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THECLOGICAL SEMINARY 


-BX7343.S3 B3 1926 
Baxter, William, 1820-1880. 
Life of Elder Walter Scott. 





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LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 





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LIFE 
OF 


BEDER IWALTER SCOTT 


By 
WILLIAM BAXTER 


THE WALTER SCOTT CENTENNIAL EDITION 
Abridged by 


B. A. ABBOTT 


Editor of “The Christian-Evangelist”, author “Life of 
Chapman S. Lucas”, “The Disciples”, “At 
the Master’s Table’’, etc. 


LIBRARY OF PRINCETON 
JAN 1 8 2012 


THEGLOGICAL SEMINARY 


THE BETHANY PRESS 
ST, LOUIS, MO. 
1926 


Copyright, 1926 
The Bethany Press 
St. Louis, Mo. 


DEDICATED TO 
THOSE MINISTERS AND LAYMEN 


WHO, LIKE SCOTT, STAKE THEIR LIVES FOR TIME AND 
ETERNITY ON THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST 
AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE 
NEW TESTAMENT 


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PREFATORY 


HIS volume is sent forth by the Christian Board 

of Publication in response to the request of many 
people, and especially of the leaders of the Walter 
Scott Centennial of Evangelism, which is to be ob- 
served during 1927. It is a condensation of The Life 
of Walter Scott by William Baxter. At first the com- 
plete republication of this very exhaustive and in- 
teresting work was contemplated but it was thought 
that this would make the book too costly for the 
wide circulation desirable under any circumstances 
and especially under the present, and that its size 
would very much reduce the circle of actual readers. 
It was decided, therefore, to condense it, which, owing 
to the clear and orderly manner in which it is written, 
could be done satisfactorily. 

The original volume was published in 1874 by Bos- 
worth, Chase and Hall, Publishers, Cincinnati, and 
contained 450 octavo pages. It was not only a life of 
Scott but carried “sketches of his fellow laborers, 
William Hayden, Adamson Bentley, John Henry and 
Diets enitrewas | easy (to élimitiate’ these. ‘lives’: 
though it was done with regret because they are in- 
teresting and valuable historically, but the purpose was 
to make the figure of Scott stand out alone in his 
personality and teaching. 

William Baxter, who wrote the original biography 
of Scott, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1820 and 
was brought to Allegheny City by his parents in 1828. 
He grew up and joined the Disciples, attended 
Bethany College, and became a leading preacher, 
teacher, and an author of considerable standing. His 
work was done in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisi- 


7 


Pa PREFATORY 


ana, Arkansas, and Ohio. He occupied the Chair of 
Belles-Lettres in Newton College, Mississippi, and 
later was president of Arkansas College, Fayetteville, 
Arkansas. He was the author of a volume of poems, 
and a regular contributor to the Ladies Repository, 
Southern Literary Messenger and Millennial Har- 
binger. He published a volume entitled Pea Ridge 
and Prairie Grove; or Scenes and Incidents of the 
War in Arkansas. ) 

It was not from a mere whim that Baxter decided 
to write the life of Walter Scott. They had been 
workers in the same cause across the years, and were 
somewhat alike in bent of soul. But in any circum- 
stances the romantic, eloquent Scott, who was a burn- 
ing light, who gave such impetus to the evangelistic 
life of the Disciples and to religion in general in 
America, was destined to attract a lovely soul like 
William Baxter. 

It will be an immeasurable blessing to all and 
especially to young preachers to make the acquaintance 
of Walter Scott through this volume and from any 
other available sources—which, alas, are all too few. 
The burning spirituality of the man, his unbounded 
faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, his deathless love 
for the Bible, his burning and burden to preach and 
to win souls to Christ, his sacrificial life—his almost 
pathetically sacrificial life—combine to make the study 
of his life a fertilizing and quickening experience. He 
was a kinsman of the “Great Sir Walter” and in 
some ways stood taller in dream and gift. 

His career is unusually interesting from the time he 
stood on the bridge and sang to the crowds to help 
fill the hat of the blind beggar, through the days when 
he swept through Ohio and Kentucky like a living 


PREFATORY 9 


flame of gospel fire, to the time of the westering sun 
when he could only carry Bibles about in a basket 
and sell them to the people on the installment plan 
(probably the origin of that plan of selling books) 
until he fell asleep at Mayslick, Kentucky, with the 
words on his lips: “I have been greatly blessed; it 
has been my privilege to develop the Kingdom of God. 
I have been greatly honored.” 

It is hoped that thousands and thousands will read 
this “Life of Elder Walter Scott” for the sheer in- 
terest in it, for the inspiration it will give, for the 
grateful remembrance of a man to whom all of us 
owe a very great deal, and for lessons on the way to 
the heart of the Master and on how to light and carry 
the torch that will make sure the feet of the frail 
children of earth on their glad journey along the way 
everlasting. 

B. A. ABBOTT. 


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LIFE OF 
ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


CHAPTER I 


ALTER SCOTT was born in Moffat, Dum- 

friesshire, Scotland, on the 3lst of October, 
1796. He was of the same ancestry as his world-re- 
nowned namesake Sir Walter Scott, whose poems and 
historical novels created such an interest in the read- 
ing world in the early part of the present century, 
and which have given him such a distinguished and 
permanent place among British authors. In the veins 
of both ran the blood of the heroes of the famous 
border feuds, among whom Wat. of Harden held so 
notable a place for deeds of daring not so honorable 
now as then; but blood will tell, and the spirit which 
made Wat. of Harden the most chilvalric and fearless 
of raiders, under different and more benign influences, 
made one of his descendant the foremost author of 
his day, and another, one of the chief movers and 
promoters of the greatest religious Reformation of 
modern times. The immediate ancestors of the sub- 
ject of these memoirs were John Scott and Mary 
Innes, who were the parents of ten children, five sons 
and five daughters, of which Walter was the fourth 
son and the sixth child. His father was a music 
teacher of some celebrity, a man of considerable cul- 
ture and agreeable manners. Both were strict mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church, in which faith all 
their children were diligently instructed. His 
mother was deeply and unfeignedly pious—a woman 
full of kindness and sympathy, sweet of speech and 


11 


12 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


fruitful in good deeds. She was, moreover, of a 
deeply sensitive nature, of which her death afforded 
a striking and melancholy proof. Her husband was 
taken ill in the neighboring town of Annan, and died 
very suddenly. The shock was so great to her sensi- 
tive and loving heart that she died immediately after 
hearing the sad tidings; and they were both buried at 
the same time in the same grave. Ata very early age 
Walter gave such evidence of decided talent, that his 
parents determined to give him every advantage for 
its development; and though at that period a colle- 
giate education was in the reach only of the sons of 
the wealthy, the moderate resources of the family 
were so husbanded and economized as to enable him, 
after the necessary academic preparation, to enter the 
University of Edinburgh, where he remained until the 
completion of his college course. In affording him 
these opportunities, it was the wish and prayer of his 
parents that he should devote himself to the ministry 
of the church of which they were members. With 
these wishes and prayers his own feelings were in full 
accord, and all his preparations had that end in view. 
During his stay in Edinburgh he made his abode with 
an aunt who resided there, and pursued his studies 
with a zeal and success that fully met the predictions 
of his friends and the hopes of the family. Al- 
though of a cheerful disposition and fond of social 
pleasures, he happily avoided the follies and dissipa- 
tions into which many of his fellow-students were 
drawn; and he even made his recreations not only 
agreeable but improving. He had naturally a good 
voice and a fine ear for music, both of which had 
been cultivated at home, under the instructions of his 
father. 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 13 


The talent and skill of Walter in this respect at- 
tracted the attention of an eminent musician in Edin- 
burgh, who had formerly been leader of a military 
band in the expedition to Egypt, in which Sir Ralph 
Abercrombie lost his life. This gentleman, admir- 
ing the talent of young Scott, volunteered to give him 
instructions on the flute, and such rapid progress did 
he make that he soon surpassed his teacher, and was 
acknowledged to be the most skillful performer on 
that instrument in the whole city. While attending 
the University an incident took place which is spe- 
cially noteworthy from the fact that it was eminently 
characteristic of the man in all his after life—small in 
itself, yet one of those keynotes to the whole life 
and conduct ever to be found in the lives of the great 
and good. Among the Scotch great importance ‘is at- 
tached to the individual who first crosses the thresh- 
old after the clock has struck twelve at midnight on 
the 31st of December, or who, as they phrase it, is 
the “first foot” in a house after the new year has 
begun. The first visitor or “first foot’? stamps the 
“luck” of the house—the good or evil fortune of its 
‘inmates for the year. Hence, every house at that 
season has its company passing the evening in a pleas- 
ant way, enlivened by song or story, and among one 
class by what they misname good liquor. As soon 
as the hour of twelve has struck all present rise, 
shake hands, and wish one another a happy New 
Year, and not a few drink the health of each other, 
with some such sentiment as “May the year that’s 
awa’ be the warst o’ our lives.”’ But whether there be 
the drinking or the more temperate greeting and good 
wishes, in all companies is heard the question, “I 
wonder who will be our first foot,’ or, as we would 


14 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


say, our first caller in the New Year. In consequence 
of this custom the streets at midnight on the last 
night of the year are as densely crowded as they usu- 
ally are at midday, the throng, too, a happy one, each 
one intent on being “first foot’ in the house of some 
friend, each one hoping to bear with him good luck. 
On one of these nights Walter, then about sixteen 
years of age, in company with his brother James, went 
over the old Edinburgh bridge to put “first foot” in 
the house of some friend. Having accomplished their 
object, they went forth on the still crowded streets, 
and after recrossing the bridge Walter was suddenly 
missed by his brother, who, supposing that something 
had for a moment attracted his attention among the 
crowds they had been constantly meeting, hastened 
home, expecting to meet him there. Walter, however, 
had not come, and, after waiting until his fears began 
to arise, he went to the bridge where he had missed 
him. Here he found quite a crowd assembled, and 
from the midst of it came the sound of the clear 
sweet voice of his brother, singing one of the sweet- 
est of Old Scotia’s songs. Wondering what could 
have so suddenly converted his youthful and some- 
what bashful brother into a street minstrel at mid- 
night, he pressed his way to the midst of the throng, 
and found a scene which told its own story. The 
young singer was standing upon the stone steps of 
one of the shops near the bridge, and a step or two 
below him stood a blind beggar holding out his hat 
to receive the pennies which ever and anon in the 
intervals between the songs the crowd would bestow. 
All day long the blind man had sat and begged, and, 
knowing that the street would be crowded that night 
even more than it had been during the day, he hoped 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 15 


that night would yield him the charity which he had 
implored almost in vain through the livelong day. But 
the crowds were intent on pleasure and friendly greet- 
ings, and few responded to the appeal of him to whom 
day brought no light, and whose night was no darker 
than his day. Young Walter drew near, and his heart 
was touched by his mute imploring look, which had 
taken the place of the almost useless appeal, “Give a 
penny to the blind man.” He had neither gold nor 
silver to give, but he stopped and inquired as to his 
success, and found that few had pitied and relieved 
his wants. His plan was formed in a moment; he 
took his place by the beggar’s side and began singing, 
in a voice shrill and sweet, a strain which few Scotch- 
men could hear unmoved. The steps of nearly all 
who passed that way were arrested; soon a crowd 
gathered, and when the song ended he made an appeal 
for pennies, which brought a shower of them, mingled 
now and then with silver, such as never had fallen 
into the blind man’s hat before. Another and an- 
other song was called for, and at the close of each the 
finger of the singer pointed significantly, and not in 
vain, to the blind man’s hat; and thus he sang far 
into the night; and when he ceased, the blind beggar 
implored heaven’s richest blessings on the head of the 
youthful singer, and bore home with him the means 
of support and comfort for many a coming day. 
This story came from the lips of his brother, who 
found him engaged as already described; but were its 
truth less clearly established, all who knew him in 
after life would readily believe it; they would say it 
is true—it is just like Walter Scott. Martin Luther 
is said to have sung and begged for the brotherhood 
of monks to which he belonged. He sung because 


16 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


he was sent in the interest of the lazy drones of the 
monastic hive; it was with him a duty, and doubtless | 
a painful and degrading one; but the youthful Scott 
sang from the fullness of a sympathetic heart in the in- 
terest of suffering humanity. 

Not long after he had completed his education a 
sudden and unexpected turn in his history took place, 
which, without being intended as a prelude to the 
part he was to act in life, proved to be in reality one 
of the most important steps in his whole career. That 
event was his coming to the United States, a matter 
which had not entered into his own plan of life, or 
been contemplated by his friends and family. His 
mother had a brother, George Innes, in the city of 
New York, who had years before obtained a place 
under the Government in the custom-house. Such 
was his faithfulness and integrity that he retained his 
place through several successive administrations; and 
having succeeded well himself, he was anxious to 
further the interests of his relatives still in his native 
land. He, therefore, wrote to his sister to send one 
of her boys over to this country, promising to do all 
in his power for his advancement. The proposal was 
very agreeable to the family, and, as Walter was best 
fitted by his superior education for the emergencies 
and opportunities of a new country, it was decided 
that he should go, and accordingly he sailed from 
Greenock in the Good ship Glenthorn, Capt. Stillman, 
and arrived in New York on the 7th of July, 1818, 
and on his arrival was kindly welcomed by his uncle, 
through whose influence he soon obtained a situation 
as Latin tutor in a classical academy on Long Island. 

In this position, however, he did not long remain. 
He had made some acquaintances in the city of New 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 17 


York, and from them heard glowing reports of the 
West, as all the region beyond the Allegheny Moun- 
tains was then called; and he resolved to see for him- 
self the land of which he had heard so much. On 
foot, with a light heart and a light purse, with a 
young man about his own age as a traveling com- 
panion, he set out, not dreaming that in that far land 
he would find a home, and without a suspicion of the 
part he would be called upon to play in the great 
religious movement then in its incipiency through the 
labors of the Campbells, father and son, but of which 
at that time he was in total ignorance. 

This journey of Scott and his young comrade, 
though a long one, was far from being wearisome 
and tedious. Each day’s travel brought new scenes, 
and each night new society, and the lessons drawn 
from nature and human nature were not without their 
worth in after years. Our young collegian, having 
passed much of his life in the city of Edinburgh, 
had never seen a forest until he visited this country ; 
and it was.indeed a new world to him when he passed 
through the rich and varied forest scenery of the 
Atlantic slope, the great pines of the Allegheny Moun- 
tains; and gazed with wonder and admiration from 
their summit at the then almost unbroken forests of 
the West. What a contrast, too, he found between 
the mode of life, the comforts of civilization, and the 
society to which he had been accustomed in Edin- 
burgh and New York, and the manners and customs 
of the dwellers in the humble abodes where he found 
shelter for the night; but it mattered not to him 
whether nightfall found him at some wayside inn, 
amid a throng of hardy yet somewhat rude teamsters, 
who then did all the carrying trade between the sea- 


18 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


board and the West, by the camp-fires of an emigrant 
family, or the log cabin of some recent settler, or the 
more comfortable farm-house. Youth, high spirits, 
and active exercise gave zest to every scene, and 
made whatever society he found enjoyable. Often 
during the journey did the travelers beguile the hours 
with songs that had never wakened echoes in those 
forests before; and as the evening shades drew on, 
mindful of the home scenes from which they were 
parted, they lifted up their voices in the solemn yet 
joyful psalm. Every night’s sojourn gave them an 
unfailing subject with which to lighten the next day’s 
travel; and the memories of that journey were cher- 
ished long after its close, and were sweeter than the 
experiences of after years in passing over the same 
route in coach or car. 

Reaching Pittsburg on the 7th of May, 1819, he 
began to seek for some employment, and soon had 
the good fortune to fall in with Mr. George Forrester, 
a fellow-countryman, and the principal of an academy, 
by whom he was immediately engaged as assistant in 
his school. Somewhat to the surprise of the young 
teacher, he soon made the discovery that his employer, 
though a deeply religious man, differed very much 
in his views from those which he himself had been 
taught to regard as true. Mr. Forrester’s peculiarity 
consisted in making the Bible his only authority and 
guide in matters of religion, while his young friend 
had been brought up to regard the Presbyterian Stand- 
ards as the true and authoritative exposition and 
summary of Bible truth. Differing as they did, they 
were, nevertheless, both lovers of the truth, and the 
frequent and close examinations which they made of 
the Scriptures resulted in convincing Mr. Scott that 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 19 


human standards in religions were, like their authors, 
imperfect; and in impressing him deeply with the 
conviction that the word of God was the only true 
and sure guide. Often, after the labors of the day 
had closed in the schoolroom, they would prosecute 
their examinations of the Scriptures far into the night, 
not in the spirit of controversy, however, but with 
an earnest desire to know the will of God, and a 
determination to follow wherever his word, the ex- 
pression of his will should lead. Mr. Scott now felt 
that he had discovered the true theology; the Bible 
had for him a meaning that it never had before; 
that is, it now meant what it said, and to devoutly 
study it in order to reach its meaning, was to put him- 
self in possession of the mind and will of God. It 
was no longer a repository of texts, from which to 
draw proofs of doctrines of modern or ancient origin, 
which could not be expressed in the words of Scrip- 
ture, but a revelation, an unveiling of the will of God 
—the gospel was a message, and to believe and obey 
that message was to be a Christian. He was not long 
in making the discovery that infant baptism was with- 
out the vestige of a divine warrant; that wherever 
baptism was enjoined, it was a personal, and not a 
relative duty; that it was a matter that no more ad- 
mitted of a proxy than faith, repentance, or any other 
act of obedience; and as he had rendered no service, 
obeyed no command, when he had been made the sub- 
ject of that ordinance as taught and practiced by 
Presbyterians, he had not obeyed the command, “be 
baptized.” 

How must this command be obeyed? Next engaged 
his attention, and his knowledge of the Greek lan- 
guage and a careful examination of the New Testa- 


20 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


ment, soon enabled him to discover that sprinkling 
and pouring were human substitutes, which required 
neither the going down into, nor the coming up out 
of, the water, of which the Scriptures speak when 
describing this ordinance. The modern modes also 
failed to agree with the allusion in Scripture to bap- 
tism as a burial, and were singularly unlike the bap- 
tism of Christ by John in the river Jordan; and, in 
accordance with his convictions that there was but 
one baptism taught in the word of God, he was im- 
mersed by Mr. Forrester, by whose instrumentality 
the change in his views had been affected. After his 
baptism he united with a small body of baptized be- 
lievers, which had been gathered together and formed 
into a church by the labors of Mr. Forrester; and in 
their society he found that peace and joy to which 
his mind had been a stranger during the period that 
the change we have described was going on. ‘To this 
little congregation Mr. Scott proved a very valuable 
acquisition ; his superior education, his gifts, zeal, and 
piety rendering him not only useful but causing him 
to be greatly beloved. Realizing what the gospel had 
done for him, in freeing his mind from narrow sec- 
tarian prejudices, admiring its beautiful simplicity, 
and rejoicing in the assurance which walking in the 
truth imparted, he found himself possessed by an 
irresistible desire to bring others to that Savior whose 
truth had made him free. Having given up so much 
that was dear to him, but having gained a truth for 
every error that he had yielded, he supposed that all 
who were holding error, sincerely regarding it as 
truth, would gladly, like himself, be undeceived. He 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 4 


devoted himself earnestly to the instructions of such, 
in many instances with success; but found in, alas, 
too many cases that time honored and popular errors 
were cherished as if they were saving truths. He 
had not, however, at this time the remotest idea of 
anything like a great religious reformation; the posi- 
tion he had taken, it is true, was in opposition to 
much of the religious teaching of the day; but he was 
like a traveler who had just entered upon a new and 
untried path, not knowing whither it would lead. But 
truth is always revolutionary, and the clearer the 
truth became to his own mind, the greater need there 
seemed of a bold and fearless advocacy. Had he seen 
this at first, he might have shrunk from thé labor and 
the opprobrium which such a course would inevitably 
bring; but for the present he felt only as most young 
converts feel: a sincere and earnest desire for the 
welfare of the souls of his fellow-men; and with a 
very humble estimate of his abilities strove to do good 
to all within his reach as he had opportunity. The 
little company of believers, with whom he had asso- 
ciated himself, were diligent students of the word of 
God, humble, pious people, mostly Scotch and Irish; 
greatly attached to Forrester, their religious teacher 
and guide, whose life was in full accord with his 
teachings, and among them Mr. Scott found a nearer 
approach to the purity and simplicity of the primi- 
tive church than ever he had seen or expected to find 
on earth. Amid such surroundings, giving his days 
to the instruction of his classes, and his leisure hours 
and much of the night to the study of his Bible, the 
time glided swiftly and sweetly away; a quiet, peace- 


22 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


ful, useful, but humble life seemed all that the future 
had in store for him, and more than this seems not 
to have, at this period of his history, entered into his 
thoughts; but he who called David from the sheep- 
fold to the throne had a greater work for him to do, 
and the events which led to that work, began rapidly 
to unfold. 


CHAPTER II 


CHANGE in the plans of Mr. Forrester made 

it necessary for him to give up his school, and 
as Mr. Scott had proved himself to be admirably 
qualified for the position, the entire management of 
it fell into his hands. The superior advantages in 
point of education which he had enjoyed, and a nat- 
ural aptitude for imparting instruction, made up for 
his lack of experience; and in addition to these he 
possessed the rare faculty of so attaching his pupils 
to himself that he soon was regarded by them as a 
warm, personal friend; and the result was that the 
prosperity of the school was increased by the change. 
His method of teaching was original, his manners 
pleasing; politeness and morality were marked feat- 
ures in his school, and as the necessary result he be- 
came daily better known and appreciated; his labors 
were well remunerated, and had success in his career 
as a teacher been his great object he might have been 
satisfied. 


But few things, however, were less in his esteem 
than worldly prosperity ; the more he studied his Bible 
the greater became his concern for the spiritual wel- 
fare of his fellow-men; and as he himself obtained 
broader and clearer views of the plan of redemption, 
his desire for wider usefulness increased. The ad- 
mirable powers of analysis and classification which he 
had hitherto applied to the sciences and languages, he 
now began to apply to the Holy Scriptures, and with 
such happy results that at times he felt a joy akin to 
that of the ancient philosopher, who, when a great 
scientific discovery flashed upon his mind, cried out 


23 


24 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


in his ecstasy, “Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! 
I have found it!” 

It is not intended by this to claim that Mr. Scott 
discovered any new truths; that in the nature of the 
case was impossible; but he discovered relations which 
the truths of revelation bore to each other that had 
for a long time, in a great measure, been lost sight 
of, and in consequence of which confusion and dark- 
ness had usurped the place of order and light. He 
observed that the advocates of religious systems, as 
opposite as Calvinism and Arminianism, claimed that 
their respective views were taught in the word of 
God—both claiming to be right and each asserting that 
the other was wrong; but to his mind the thought 
that the inspired volume taught views so contradic- 
tory was most abhorrent. In nature he saw order and 
harmony and an invariable relation between cause and 
effect, and he concluded it could not be otherwise in 
the plan for the recovery of our lost race. In the 
word of God he found precepts, duties, ordinances, 
promises, blessings, and between these a proper re- 
lation and dependence; that the duties, in the nature 
of things, could not precede the precept, or the bless- 
ing the promise, or the ordinance the commandment 
by which it was enjoined. Nothing, to his mind, 
seemed more reasonable than that precepts should set 
forth what duties must be performed, what ordinances 
obeyed; that promises should serve as a motive to 
obedience; that blessings should follow the doing of 
that which precept made known as duty, to which 
promise was the encouragement and blessing the re- 
ward. 

The conversion of a sinner to God had long been a 
subject that perplexed him, on account of the mys- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 25 


tery thrown around it by theological writers; but 
when he read the accounts given in the Acts, of the 
course pursued by the apostles in turning men to God, 
he found that all mystery fled; that those who heard, 
believed, and obeyed the glad message, which it was 
their mission to make known, were filled with joy 
and peace in believing. His noble and candid nature, 
and his profound regard for the truth, led him to ex- 
amine carefully all the common or orthodox views 
in which he had been brought up, and which he had 
long entertained without a doubt as to their correct- 
ness; from these he eliminated to be held sacred all 
that was clearly taught in the unerring word, and re- 
jected all he had heretofore cherished for which he 
could find no divine warrant. 

In the meantime, his intimacy with Mr. Forrester, 
his religious friend and guide, continued to be of the 
most pleasant and endearing nature; and the little 
congregation under his care, which met in the court- 
house, were his most valued associates. With the 
former he was accustomed to walk to the place of 
worship in company, and then to sit meekly at his 
feet as he expounded the word of God; and with the 
latter to engage in the service of God as brethren be- 
loved. But a sad and unexpected change came. Mr. 
Forrester was drowned while bathing in the Alle- 
gheny river, and Mr. Scott was deprived of his dear- 
est friend and the little flock of its beloved and faith- 
ful shepherd. This calamity brought upon him new 
duties and responsibilities: to comfort and assist the 
widow and orphans of his lost friend, and to care as 
best he could for the spiritual welfare of the stricken 
and bereaved church. ‘To these duties he addressed 
himself manfully; the boy who sung at midnight in 


26 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


the streets of Edinburgh to help an unknown blind 
beggar, now that he was a man, could not be wanting 
in sympathy and helpfulness to the widow and or- 
phans of one that he had, while living, so esteemed 
and revered; and the wants of the church soon called 
into activity those gifts for teaching and preaching for 
which he afterwards became so distinguished. 

He now began to feel more deeply than ever that 
there were thousands as sincere and earnest as him- 
self who were yet under the bondage of the system 
from which he had been emancipated, and he desired 
that they should, like him, enjoy the freedom those 
enjoy whom the truth makes free. Under the pres- 
sure of such thoughts the duties of the schoolroom 
became burdensome. What was the enlightening of 
the minds of a few youth, and leading them up the 
difficult yet pleasant steeps of literature and science, 
compared with the work of rescuing humble, earnest 
souls from the spiritual darkness in which they were 
groping, and of turning sinners from Satan to God. 

At this juncture a pamphlet fell into his hands, 
which had been put into circulation by a small con- 
gregation in the city of New York, and which had 
much to do with deciding the course he should pursue. 
The church alluded to was composed mainly of Scotch 
Baptists, and held many of the views taught by the 
Haldanes, and were, in many respects, far in advance 
of the other religious bodies. The pamphlet men- 
tioned was published by this congregation in 1820, 
and was intended to set forth the views which they 
entertained. The publication was quite a remarkable 
one for the times, as it set forth, with admirable sim- 
plicity and clearness, the teaching of the Scripture 
with regard to the design of baptism, which had been 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 27 


almost entirely lost sight of, and the practical value of 
which even its authors did not seem to realize. In it 
were to be found the germs of what was years after- 
wards insisted upon by Scott in his plea for baptism 
for the remission of sins, and also by Alexander 
Campbell in his celebrated Extra on Remission. 

The reading of this tract had much to do with the 
subsequent course of Mr. Scott; he thought that a 
visit to the people holding the views which it set forth 
would add greatly to his Christian knowledge, and at 
the same time give him a favorable opportunity for 
making known the views which he had adopted, and 
for the spread of which he had such an anxious de- 
sire. Dismissing, therefore, all thoughts of personal 
interest, and considerations of gain, he abruptly 
brought his school to a close, and set out for New 
York, to engage in labors and studies which he deemed 
more important, and, therefore, more congenial. The 
result of his visit, however was a sad disappointment ; 
he found the practice of the church far in the rear 
of what he had been led to expect from the publication 
which had led him to seek a more intimate acquaint- 
ance; nor did there seem to be any disposition on their 
part to fall in with his views, which began to look in 
the direction of a radical reform. 

He remained there but three months, long enough, 
however, to discover that the simple and self-evident 
truths of Christianity, which he fondly hoped would 
be accepted as soon as made known, were not to 
achieve the triumph he had anticipated. His hopes 
had seemed reasonable; he had only the word of God 
in all its primitive simplicity to present; he had in- 
vented no new creed, advocated nothing that the Bible 
did not sanction; he had sacrificed as much in his 


28 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


abandonment of sectarianism as he asked at the hands 
of others; he felt that the happiness of all professors 
of religion would be enhanced by laying aside every 
thing that savored of party; that the cause of Christ 
would be immensely benefited by the healing of all 
unseemly divisions; and to find such an unwillingness 
to enter on a course that promised so much happiness 
to man and glory to God filled him with sorrow and 
despondency. 

In the meantime, his loss was deeply felt in Pitts- 
burg; the patrons of his school found that his place 
as a teacher could not be filled, and a vigorous effort 
was made to induce him to return. Mr. Richardson, 
whose son Robert had been one of Mr. Scott’s most 
promising and affectionate pupils, proposed the en- 
gagement of Mr. Scott as a private tutor for his own 
and a few other families. This plan met with warm 
approval, and a handsome salary was pledged. Mr. 
Richardson made the proposal to Mr. Scott, who was 
still in New York, and earnestly urged his acceptance. 
The interest manifested in him at a time when suffer- 
ing under keen disappointment caused him to regard 
the offer favorably, although he did not positively 
accept it. He left New York, however, and visited 
Paterson, New Jersey, and found there a few profes- 
sors of religion in a disorganized condition, but nothing 
to encourage him to labor among them. From thence 
he proceeded to Baltimore, and found a small church 
in a very low condition, but kept alive by brethren 
Carman and Ferguson. Then learning that there was 
a small body of worshipers in Washington City, to 
whom he might possibly be of some advantage, he 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 29 


says: “I went thither, and having searched them up 
I discovered them to be so sunken in the mire of 
Calvinism, that they refused to reform; and so find- 
ing no pleasure in them I left them. I then went to 
the Capitol, and, climbing up to the top of its lofty 
dome, I sat myself down, filled with sorrow at the 
miserable desolation of the Church of God.” 


CHAPTER Il 


N this spirit of dejection he continued his travels 
on foot to Pittsburg, a distance of nearly three 
hundred miles, and reached there weary and travel- 
worn; but the warmth of his welcome on his arrival 
did much toward dispelling the gloom with which his 
late disappointments had filled his mind. He made 
his home in the family of Mr. Richardson, who was 
mainly instrumental in inducing. him to return, who 
fitted up a room in his own house for the accommo- 
dation of the few pupils to which his school was re- 
stricted; and he devoted himself with such zeal and 
success to the advancement of his pupils that he 
gained a reputation such as no other teacher in that 
city had ever enjoyed. His pupils were regarded in 
the light of younger companions and friends, and 
while he led them in the various pathways of science 
and literature, he strove at the same time to mould 
their manners and improve their hearts. He possessed 
great tact and an almost intuitive perception of char- 
acter, which enabled him to adapt himself to the dif- 
ferent dispositions and capabilities of his pupils, and 
to make study more of a pleasure than a task. His 
rules were few and might be summed up in the words 
obedience, order, accuracy; and the result in after 
years was, that some of his pupils ranked among the 
finest scholars and most useful men in the State. 
Among them were Chief Justice Lowrey and the 
eminent author and professor, Dr. Richardson, who, 
in his biography of Alexander Campbell, nearly a 
half a century after, thus writes of his beloved teacher 
and friend: 


30 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 31 


‘I would sometimes invite him to walk out of an eve- 
ning to my father’s garden in the vicinity of the city; but 
his mind could not be divorced, even amid such recreations, 
from the high theme which occupied it. Nature, in all its 
forms, seemed to speak to him only of its Creator; and al- 
though gentle and affectionate as he was, he sought ever to 
interest himself in the things that interested others. His 
mind would constantly revert to its ruling thought; and some 
incident in our ramble, some casual remark in our conversa- 
tion, would at once open up the fountain of religious thought, 
which seemed to be ever seeking for an outlet. Thus, for 
instance, if I would present him with a rose, while he ad- 
mired its tints and inhaled its fragrance, he would ask, in a 
tone of deep feeling, ‘Do you know, my dear, why in the 
Scriptures Christ is called the Rose of Sharon?’ If the answer 
was not ready, he would reply himself: ‘It is because the 
rose of Sharon has no thorns’; and would then go on to make 
a few touching remarks on the beautiful traits in the character 
of the Savior. Then, in the exercise of his powers of ac- 
curate perception and his love of analysis and object-teach- 
ing, descanting on the special characteristics of the flower, 
and calling attention to the various elements which, by their 
assemblage, produced such a charming result—the graceful, 
curving lines that bounded the petals and the foliage, so much 
more beautiful than the straight and parallel edges of the 
blades of grass or maize; the winding veinlets, the delicate 
shadings of carmine, and their contrast with the green foliage; 
the graceful attitude assumed by the flower, as, poising 
itself upon its stem, armed with thorns, it shone resplen- 
dent in queenly beauty; he would pass, by a natural and 
easy transition, to dwell yet again upon the infinite power 
and glorious perfections of the Creator—the Lord that ‘was 
God,’ that ‘was in the beginning with God,’ and without 
whom nothing was made that was made. Nor did he neglect, 
even amidst the daily duties of the schoolroom, to lead the 
minds of his pupils to similar contemplations, so that they 
might be induced to ‘look through nature up to nature’s God.’ 
The revelations of God in the Bible, however, formed his 
chief delight, and, in accordance with his feelings, he took 
especial pains to familiarize the students of the ancient 


52 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


tongues with the Greek of the New Testament, for which 
purpose he caused them to commit it largely to memory, so 
that some of them could repeat, chapter by chapter, the whole 
of the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the 
Greek language. It was also his invariable practice to re- 
quire memorized recitations of portions of the ancient classic 
authors, as well as written translations of them. These tasks, 
irksome to those of feeble memory, and exacted, perhaps, in 
some cases, with too much rigor, tended, nevertheless, to im- 
prove the pupils in taste and accuracy, and to store their 
minds with charming passages for use in future life.’’ 


His return to Pittsburg was highly gratifying to 
the little flock that had been gathered by the labors 
of the lamented Forrester, whose place, in a measure, 
they hoped this promising young convert would sup- 
ply. The members of this church, in which he was 
afterwards to act so distinguished a part, were all 
diligent readers and students of the Holy Scripture; 
and in their desire to conform to primitive usages in 
every respect pressed, perhaps, too far some matters 
which had their origin in the social life of apostolic 
times, the spirit of which can be manifested by differ- 
ent acts in our own day. They read, for instance, the 
apostolic injunction “salute one another with a holy 
kiss,” and they carried it out in practice, and in con- 
sequence came to be known in the community as the 
“Kissing Baptists”; but while it was true that such 
was the practice of the primitive church, they did not 
take into account the fact that it was not enjoined on 
the church as a custom to be practiced for the first 
time, but that it was the usual mode of salutation 
among the orientals, and only gave a higher signifi- 
cance to an established custom, just as the shaking of 
hands now, our common mode of greeting, becomes 
more significant when Christians meet and clasp hands 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT ns 


as members of the family of God. The washing of 
feet was also practiced by them, not, however, as a 
church ordinance, but an act of brotherly kindness 
and Christian hospitality. But this, as well as the 
former practice, soon fell into disuse, doubtless from 
the fact, that to have insisted upon it would have 
obliged them, in order to be consistent, to have revived 
the use of sandals and the style of dress prevalent in 
the primitive age, which Christianity did not originate 
and was not designed to perpetuate. But their regard 
for these unimportant matters by no means rendered 
them negligent concerning the weightier matters of 
the law: reading and committing to memory the holy 
oracles ; bringing up their families in the fear of God; 
social and family worship; and all the sweet charities 
of a Christian life were cultivated in that little church, 
and in its bosom were found men and women as pious, 
devoted, and useful for their means and opportunities 
as the world has ever seen. The Darsies, Erretts, 
McLarens, and many others, who have proved such 
blessings to the world, and promoters of the cause 
of Christ in the earth, were members of that little 
band, and where the influences that were set on foot 
there will end eternity alone will disclose. 

The following incident will show the spirit that 
prevailed among them—a spirit noble as it is rare. 
One of the members had in some way injured and 
deeply wounded the feelings of Mr. Scott and Mrs. 
Darsie; and as the aggressor showed no disposition 
to repair the wrong he had done, Bro. Scott went to 
Mrs. Darsie, and said: ‘‘We have now an opportu- 
nity of praying the Lord’s prayer; let us go and for- 
give him who has trespassed against us”; and to- 
gether they went, and assured him of their free and 


34 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


full forgiveness of the wrong he had done them, and 
in such a kindly spirit did they perform their mission 
that the offender burst into tears, confessed his fault, 
and a perfect reconciliation was effected. 

It was not long after Mr. Scott’s return from New 
York, in 1821, that his mind became possessed by 
what proved to be the great thought of his life; 
namely, that the great central idea of the Christian 
religion is the Messiahship; that Jesus is the Christ, 
the Son of the living God; a proposition around 
which, in his esteem, all other truths revolve as planets 
around the sun. To prove this he regarded as the 
great aim of the evangelists in the four Gospels, and 
which certainly was the avowed purpose of John, for, 
near the close of his life of Jesus, he says, in ref- 
erence to all he had put on record: “But these are 
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life 
through his name.” John xx: 31. 

His reputation as a teacher, in the meantime, con- 
tinued to increase; his school, as already intimated, 
was select, the number of pupils being restricted to 
fifteen; but when he gave public examinations the 
proficiency of his pupils and the superiority of his 
method of instruction was so apparent, that many of 
the principal citizens urged that his school should be 
thrown open, that a larger number might receive the 
benefit of his instructions; and as soon as this was 
done the number ran up to one hundred and forty. 
The only difference which took place between his pa- 
trons and himself was in regard to the nature and ex- 
tent of religious instruction in his school, he being in 
favor of the New Testament being read daily, and 
they, who were mainly Presbyterians, preferring that 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 35 


the Westminster Catechism should be taught. Against 
this he took a decided stand, and gives as his reason, 
that even at that early date of his religious profession 
he was thoroughly convinced that in regard to Chris- 
tianity it was his duty to teach it, not as found in 
creeds and party standards, but just as it was written. 
Being unable to agree upon the matter, a compromise 
was made; all catechisms were laid aside, and a chap- 
ter in the New Testament allowed to be read every 
Saturday. For the good of his pupils he determined 
to make the most of this, and having, as he says, had 
his whole. soul aroused, and astonished by the views 
of Christ which were unfolded to him during his in- 
tense and prayerful study of the gospels, he deter- 
mined that the lessons should be drawn from the four 
evangelists; that Christ should be the theme of each 
Saturday’s lesson; and that the great point might be 
kept before the minds of his pupils during the week 
he wrote with chalk, in large letters, over the door of 
his academy, in the inside, the words “Jesus is the 
Christ.” 

It was in Pittsburg, while thus engaged, in the win- 
ter of 1821-22, that he first met Alexander Campbell, 
with whom his own history and efforts in the future 
were to be so intimately blended. Mr. Campbell, who 
was nearly ten years his senior, had been well edu- 
cated, and, like himself, intended for the Presbyte- 
rian ministry; but being of an original turn of mind, 
a bold and independent thinker, he found, at an early 
age, that he could not be limited by the narrow bounds 
of a party creed, but desired to explore for himself 
the ocean of revealed truth. 

In regard to this meeting with Mr. Campbell, Mr. 
Scott says: “When my acquaintance with him began, 


36 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


our age and feelings alike rendered us susceptible of 
a mutual attachment, and that was formed, I trust, 
on the best of principles. If the regard which we 
cherished for each other was exalted by anything 
purely incidental, that thing was an ardent desire in 
the bosom of both to reform the Christian profession, 
which to each of us appeared in a state of the most 
miserable destitution.” 

At that time there were few, if any, better educated 
ministers in America than the elder Campbell; and 
he was not less remarkable for his perfect courtesy 
of manner and well developed Christian character, 
than for his natural ability and literary culture; and 
looking at the trio, Thomas Campbell, Alexander 
Campbell, and Walter Scott, as we now can in the 
light of their finished lives and work, it may be said 
truthfully that they were not surpassed in genius, elo- 
quence, talent, learning, energy, devotion to the truth, 
and purity of life, by any three men of the age in 
which they lived. 

The esteem which Mr. Scott and Thomas Campbell 
soon learned to entertain for each other was after- 
wards strengthened by much personal intercourse and 
united labor in presenting to the world the views 
which they held in common, and to the spread of 
which they contributed so much, so that their natural 
affection and regard seemed like that of father and 
son. In regard to this intimacy, the elder Campbell 
wrote thus to Scott many years after: “I think I 
should know you, and that you also should know me. 
We have participated in the most confidential inti- 
macy, and I know of nothing that should abate it. 
Our mutual esteem and unfeigned attachment to each 
other have been to me precious items of comfort and 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 5/ 


satisfaction, the privation of which would inflict a 
serious wound, more especially because it is so inti- 
mately connected, I had almost said identified, with 
my feelings in relation to the promotion of the inter- 
ests of the Redeemer’s kingdom within the limits of 
our mutual co-operation.” 

Alexander Campbell, nearly twenty years after they 
first met, thus writes to Scott: ‘‘We were associated 
in the days of weakness, infancy, and imbecility, and 
tried in the vale of adversity, while as yet there was 
but a handful. My father, yourself, and myself were 
the only three spirits that could (and providentially 
we were the only persons thrown together that were 
capable of forming any general or comprehensive 
views of things spiritual and ecclesiastical) co-operate 
in a great work or enterprise. The Lord greatly 
blessed our very imperfect and feeble beginnings ; 
and this is one reason worth a million that we ought 
always to cherish the kindest feelings, esteem, admir- 
ation, love.” This feeling was fully reciprocated on 
the part of Scott. 

And now, having brought topether these three men 
of such great and varied talents, animated by a pur- 
pose at once great and good, the reader cannot fail to 
discern the hand of Providence in the matter; and 
now that the instrumentalities are prepared and 
brought together, it will not surprise us to see the 
work to which, in the providence of God, they were 
called, spread and prosper. 


CHAPTER IV 


N the 3rd of January, 1823, Mr. Scott was united 

in marriage with Miss Sarah Whitsett, at that time 
a member of the religious body known as Covenanters ; 
she afterwards united with the church then under 
the care of her husband, to whom she proved to be a 
faithful and affectionate helper, who shared without 
murmuring the toils and privations incident to such 
a life as his labors and sacrifices made it necessary to 
lead. ‘He was at this time about 26 years of age, 
about the medium height, slender and rather spare in 
person, and possessed of little muscular strength. 
His aspect was abstracted, meditative, and sometimes 
had even an air of sadness. His nose was straight, 
his lips rather full, but delicately chiseled; his eyes 
dark and lustrous; full of intelligence and tenderness ; 
and his hair, clustering above his fine ample forehead, 
was black as the raven’s wing.” Such, doubtless, he 
appeared then to his favorite pupil, to whom we are 
indebted for the above description. But it must be 
remembered that the teacher is often an object of 
reverence and awe to the pupil, and this may have 
rendered the picture less attractive than it would have 
been if drawn by another hand. The writer knew 
him well in after years, subject, at times, it is true, to 
hours of depression, but in the main, genial and even 
mirthful; abounding in anecdotes and brilliant flashes 
of wit and repartee, and especially delighting in, and 
delightful to, the young. His entrance into a room 
full of young people, instead of checking or clouding 
their mirth, served only to increase it; and was like 
the letting in of additional sunshine. 


38 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 39 


It was in this year that his friend A. Campbell pro- 
jected his first publication, which afterwards became 
so famous; but before issuing the work he consulted 
Mr. Scott in regard to it. He intended to name his 
paper “The Christian”; but Mr. Scott suggested that 
it might disarm prejudice and secure a wider circula- 
tion were he to call it “The Christian Baptist,” espe- 
cially as it was expected to circulate mainly among 
the Baptists, among whom the elements of reform had 
for some time been slowly and silently spreading. 
Mr. Scott’s suggestion met his approval, and the peri- 
odical, which produced the greatest revolution in reli- 
gious thought in this century, was issued in August, 
1823, under the name of “The Christian Baptist.” 

From the time of his first meeting with Mr. Scott, 
Mr. Campbell had felt that he had met with no ordi- 
nary man, and having discovered, he was not slow to 
acknowledge, his ability, and urged him to set forth 
his views through the medium of the new periodical 
to which he had given a name. In accordance with 
this invitation he prepared an article for the first num- 
ber, with the caption, “A Divinely Authorized Plan of 
Teaching the Christian Religion.” Mr. Campbell 
himself had an article headed the “Christian Reli- 
gion”; and his father contributed an essay on the 
“Primary Intention of the Gospel.” 

The publication of this paper marked a new era in 
religious literature; the novelty of the views, the ex- 
traordinary ability with which they were set forth, the 
reforms for which they called, and, above all, their 
evident truth, created an interest and an inquiry such 
as has seldom been equaled. 

Mr. Scott continued his essays on the theme above- 
mentioned through four numbers of “The Christian 


40 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Baptist,” and in them he says or suggests all that is 
needed on that subject. They are, in a word, exhaus- 
tive, embodying, as they do, the earnest and prayerful 
reflections of years; and in vigor of style and felicity 
of expression they will not suffer by comparison with 
the finest productions of the present day. 

These essays and the powerful articles from the pen 
of the editor in each number, soon created a profound 
sensation. In many of the communities in which “The 
Christian Baptist” circulated the foundations of reli- 
gious belief were carefully and earnestly re-examined ; 
and the result was that many of its readers, to whom 
religion, as popularly taught, was a mysterious and 
altogether unintelligible affair, now saw in it, as set 
forth in the Scriptures, a beautiful harmony and sim- 
plicity, and began to spread among their neighbors 
the light which they had received; and being of neces- 
sity placed on the defensive, they were obliged to 
maintain by an appeal to Scripture the views they 
had espoused. In some instances entire churches with 
their pastors were led to lay aside their creeds and > 
much of their theology and to accept the Word of 
God as their only guide. The publication of this re- 
markable sheet continued for seven years with in- 
creased interest and a largely augmented list of sub- 
scribers, and only ceased to give place to a larger and 
more widely-circulated monthly called ‘““The Millennial 
Harbinger.” During the existence of “The Christian 
Baptist” Mr. Scott was a frequent contributor to its 
pages, and his numerous articles under the signature 
of “Philip” gained him a reputation scarcely inferior 
to that of the editor—A. Campbell himself. 


CHAPTER V 


R. SCOTT remained in Pittsburg teaching his 
academy and instructing the church until some- 

time in 1826, when he removed to Steubenville, Ohio. 
It was in the summer of this year also that he made 
his first appearance at the Mahoning Baptist Associa- 
tion, within the bounds of which he afterwards be- 
came so famous. ‘The association met on the 25th 
of August. Mr. Scott was not a member of this 
body, but is mentioned in the Minutes simply as a 
teaching brother, but was by courtesy invited to par- 
take in its deliberations; and probably from the fact 
of his being a stranger was, by a similar act of cour- 
tesy, invited to preach on Sunday, at 10 o’clock a.M., 
the hour usually occupied by the best talent. His 
sermon, based on the 11th chapter of Matthew, was 
a powerful one and made a deep impression. A. 5S. 
Hayden, then quite a youth, was present, and saw and 
heard Scott for the first time. He says that his fancy, 
imagination, eloquence, neatness, and finish as a 
preacher and a man attracted his attention, and fixed 
him forever on his memory. Alexander Campbell, 
whose reputation was already great, was present, and 
many who had been attracted to the meeting by his 
fame supposed that they were hearing him while 
listening to Scott, and when he closed left the place 
under that impression. ‘The Association met the next 
year, 1827, at New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio. 
Alexander Campbell had been appointed by the church 
of which he was a member, at Wellsburgh, Va., to 
attend as its messenger, and on his way he stopped 


41 


42 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


at Steubenville and invited Mr. Scott to go with him. 
He was somewhat disinclined to do so, as he was not 
a member of the body, or of any church represented 
in it; but being urged, he went. This seemingly un- 
important event proved to be one of the most impor- 
tant steps of his life, as the sequel will show. 

In regard to the proceedings of the Association, Mr. 
Scott was again invited to a seat. This might have 
been expected ; but is it not very remarkable that when 
a committee was appointed composed of preachers 
who were members of the Association, and also of 
those who were not, to choose an evangelist to travel 
among the churches, that one should be selected who 
was not a member of the body, and who neither agreed 
in his religious views with many of those who selected 
him for so important a task, nor took any pains to 
conceal this difference? Nor could the choice have 
been made on the ground of peculiar fitness in con- 
sequence of great success in the evangelical field, or 
greatness of reputation; it was not a matter of neces- 
sity—a choice of a giant from among pigmies. Bentley 
was known and esteemed throughout the entire Asso- 
ciation; Campbell’s great and admirable talents were 
well known and acknowledged; Rigdon had the repu- 
tation of an orator; Jacob Osborn gave high promise 
of future usefulness; Secrest and Gaston were popu- 
lar and successful evangelists; and yet by the voices 
of all these, and others of less note, Walter Scott was 
unanimously chosen for the most important work that 
the Association had ever taken in hand. 

He proved to be, however, as we shall see, the man 
of all others for the place and the work—a work 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 43 


which neither he nor they who called him to it had 
the remotest idea that it would result, as it did, in the 
dissolution of the Association and the casting away 
-of creeds and the unexampled spread of clearer and 
purer view of the gospel—nay, a return to it in its 
primitive beauty and simplicity. 


CHAPTERGVE 


HE scene of his first practical and successful ex- 

hibition of the gospel, as preached in primitive 
times, was at New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio, 
the place at which he was appointed as traveling evan- 
gelist a few months before. The Baptist Church at 
that place had become acquainted with him at the As- 
sociation, and received with pleasure an appointment 
from him for a series of discourses on the ancient 
gospel; and the citizens were glad to have a visit 
from the eloquent stranger. On the first Sunday after 
his arrival every seat in the meeting-house was filled 
at an early hour; soon every foot of standing room 
was occupied, and the doorway blocked up by an 
eager throng; and, inspired by the interest which pre- 
vailed, the preacher began. His theme was the con- 
fession of Peter, Matt. xvi:16: “Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God,” and the promise which 
grew out of it, that he should have intrusted to him 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The declaration 
of Peter was a theme upon which he had thought 
for years; it was a fact which he regarded the four 
gospels as written to establish; to which type and 
prophecy had pointed in all the ages gone by; which 
the Eternal Father had announced from heaven when 
Jesus came up from the waters of Jordan and the 
Spirit descended and abode upon him, and which was 
repeated again amid the awful grandeur and solemnity 
of the transfiguration scene. He then proceeded to 
show that the foundation truth of Christianity was 
the divine nature of the Lord Jesus—the central truth 
around which all others revolved, and from which they 


a4 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 45 


derived their efficacy and importance—and that the 
belief of it was calculated to produce such love in the 
heart of him who believed it as would lead him to 
true obedience to the object of his faith and love. 
To show how that faith and love were to be mani- 
fested, he quoted the language of the great commis- 
sion, and called attention to the fact that Jesus had 
taught his apostles “that repentance and remission of 
sins should be preached in his name among all nations, 
beginning at Jerusalem.” He then led his hearers to 
Jerusalem on the memorable Pentecost, and bade them 
listen to an authoritative announcement of the law of 
Christ, now to be made known for the first time, by 
the same Peter to whom Christ had promised to give 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which he repre- 
sented as meaning the conditions upon which the guilty 
might find pardon at the hands of the risen, ascended, 
and glorified Son of God, and enter his kingdom. 

The man of all others, however, in that community 
who would most have delighted in and gladly ac- 
cepted those views, so old and yet so new, was not 
there, although almost in hearing of the preacher, 
who, -with such eloquence and power, was setting 
forth the primitive gospel. This was Wm. Amend, 
a pious, God-fearing man, a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and regarded by his neighbors as an 
“Israelite indeed.” He had for some time enter- 
tained the same views as those Mr. Scott was then 
preaching in that place for the first time, but was not 
aware that any one agreed with him. 

He was invited a day or two before to hear Mr. 
Scott, but knowing nothing of his views, he supposed 
that he preached much as others did, but agreed to go 
and hear him. It was near the close of the services 


46 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


when he reached the Baptist church and joined the 
crowd at the door, who were unable to get into the 
house. The first sentence he heard aroused and ex- 
cited him; it sounded like that gospel which he had 
read with such interest at home, but never had heard 
from the pulpit before. He now felt a great anxiety 
to see the man who was speaking so much like the 
oracles of God, and pressed through the throng into 
the house. Mr. Dibble, the clerk of the church, saw 
him enter, and knowing that he had been seeking and 
longing to find a man who would preach as the Word 
of God read, thought within himself, “Had Mr. 
Amend been here during all this discourse I feel sure 
he would have found what he has so long sought in 
vain. I wish the preacher would repeat what he said 
before he came in.” Greatly to his surprise the 
preacher did give a brief review of the various points 
of his discourse, insisting that the Word of God 
meant what it said, and urging his hearers to trust 
that Word implicitly. He rehearsed again the Jeru- 
salem scene, called attention to the earnest, anxious 
cry of the multitude, and the comforting reply of the 
apostle, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, 
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” He 
invited any one present who believed with all his 
heart, to yield to the terms proposed in the words of 
the apostle, and show by a willing obedience his trust 
in the Lord of life and glory. Mr. Amend pressed 
his way through the crowd to the preacher and made 
known his purpose; made a public declaration of his 
belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and his willingness to 
obey him, and, on the same day, in a beautiful, clear 
stream which flows on the southern border of the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 47 


town, in the presence of a great multitude, he was 
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission 
of sins. 

This event, which forms an era in the religious his- 
tory of the times, took place on the 18th of November, 
1827, and Mr. Amend was, beyond all question, the 
first person in modern times who received the or- 
dinance of baptism in perfect accordance with apos- 
tolic teaching and usage. 


CHAPTERIWVAI 


HE baptism of Mr. Amend occasioned no small 

stir in the community. No one had ever seen 
any thing in all respects like it, and yet it seemed to 
correspond so perfectly with the teachings and prac- 
tice of the apostles that few could fail to see the re- 
semblance. Mr. Scott continued his labors during 
the following week, and many others who had been 
unable to accept the popular teaching of the day had 
their attention arrested by a gospel which they could 
understand, and with the conditions of which they 
could comply, and the result was, that by the next 
Lord’s day fifteen others followed the example of Mr. 
Amend by publicly confessing their faith in Jesus as 
the Son of God and being immersed. 

Of course, much opposition was aroused. One man 
went so far as to threaten to shoot Mr. Scott if he 
should baptize his mother, who had sought baptism 
at his hands; but threats and scoffs only served to 
increase the zeal of the preacher; and it was found, 
moreover, that all the converts were able to give such 
reasons for the course they had taken, that no one 
that admitted the Bible to be true could gainsay. 
Another very happy result was, that nearly the whole 
community began to search the Scriptures, many in 
the spirit of the Bereans, to see whether these things 
were so; others with no higher object than to find 
objections to the new doctrine, and many of these 
were forced to the conclusion that if it were false the 
Bible could not be true, as the chief feature of the 
new doctrine was that the preacher could tell every 


48 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 49 


honest inquirer his duty in the very language of Holy 
Writ. 


Mr. Scott, after the events narrated above, paid a 
visit to several points on the Western Reserve, and 
in three weeks again returned to New Lisbon. He ° 
found the interest awakened by his first visit undimin- 
ished, and seven more were added to the number al- 
ready baptized. His labors were now in great de- 
mand, calls from various quarters poured in upon him, 
and night and day found him engaged, wherever op- 
portunity afforded, in the Master’s work. He soon 
visited New Lisbon again, and over thirty more joyful 
and willing converts were made. The members of the 
Baptist Church received the Word gladly, and almost 
to a man accepted the truth which he presented with 
such force and clearness, and resolved that thence- 
forth the Word of God should be their only rule and 
guide. In this visit Elder Scott was accompanied 
by Joseph Gaston, a minister of the Christian connec- 
tion, who had heartily embraced the truth, and who 
by his tender and pathetic exhortations greatly aided 
in promoting the success of the gospel. 

The excitement consequent upon the great reli- 
gious changes in New Lisbon soon spread through the 
county, and Scott and Gaston were urged to visit 
East Fairfield, a village some eight miles distant. 
The community was composed mainly of Quakers 
and Bible Christians, many of whom accepted the 
gospel as presented by the new preachers, and the re- 
sult was, that after a meeting of three or four days 
a large congregation, including several of the most in- 
fluential people in that locality, was established upon 
the foundation of the apostles and prophets. 


50 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Returning to New Lisbon, Elder Scott found the 
truth to be advancing, but as of old, also, some con- 
tradicting and almost blaspheming; the ordinance of 
baptism was ridiculed; opprobrious names were given 
to those who accepted the new doctrine, which was 
stigmatized as heresy, a Water Salvation, as worse 
than Romanism—the opposers, in their zeal, forgetting 
that faith, repentance, and a new life were as much 
insisted on by the Reformers as those who differed 
from them in other respects. Chief in the opposition 
were the Methodist and Presbyterian ministers who, 
- during his absence at Fairfield, assailed both Scott 
and his teaching from their respective pulpits. Of 
this he was informed, and on the first evening after 
his return a large audience gathered to hear him. 
Just as he was beginning his discourse the two min- 
isters came in, and as soon as they were seated Scott 
said: “There are two gentlemen in the house who, 
in my absence, made a man of straw and called it 
Scott; this they bitterly assailed; now if they have 
any thing to say the veritable Scott is here, and the 
opportunity is now theirs to make good what they 
have said elsewhere. Let us lay our views before the 
people and they shall decide who is right; for my 
part, I am willing at any time to exchange two errors 
for one truth. Come out, gentlemen, like men, and 
let us discuss the matters at issue.” His reverend 
assailants showing no signs of accepting his invitation, 
he called them by name, and, addressing some young 
persons on the front seat, said: “Boys, make room 
there. Now, gentlemen, come forward.” ‘The min- 
isters, however, felt that the man and his teachings 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 5] 


could be more safely assailed in his absence than 
in his presence; they therefore rose, and arm in arm 
left the house, leaving behind them the impression 
that they felt unable to make good their charges of 
heresy and false doctrine. 


A report was also set on foot derogatory to the 
moral standing of Mr. Scott. This attack on his char- 
acter called forth much sympathy in his behalf. A 
number of the citizens undertook the investigation of 
the matter, which resulted in covering his revilers with 
shame, and adding to his already great influence in 
the community. A handsome purse was also made up 
and presented to him by those who were indignant 
at the base and unfounded charges which had been 
made against him. 


Not long after, another Methodist minister an- 
nounced that he would review and expose the new 
doctrine. A large audience assembled to hear him, 
and among them Scott himself. The preacher ad- 
dressed himself to his task in an unlovely spirit; in- 
troducing the services by reading the hymn: 


“‘Jesus, great Shepherd of the Sheep, 
To thee for help we fly; 
Thy little flock in safety keep, 
For oh! the Wolf is nigh;’’ 


emphasizing the last line in such a way as to leave 
no doubt as to who was the Wolf that he had in his 
eye. He assailed Mr. Scott and his teachings in 
terms neither chaste nor select, grossly misrepresent- 
ing both the man and his doctrine. When he closed, 
Mr. Scott begged the liberty of correcting some of 


52 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


the statements which had been made, and did so in a 
manner so kind and gentlemanly that the audience 
were as deeply impressed with the Christian spirit he 
exhibited as they had been disgusted with the coarse- 
ness and rudeness of his assailant, to whom they 
thought the epithet wolf belonged more properly, than 
to him it was intended to apply. 


CHAPTER VIII 


N order to be nearer the field of his labors, Mr. 
Scott now removed to Canfield, on the Reserve; 
and, elated by the remarkable success which had at- 
tended his labors at New Lisbon, and not doubting 
but that the divine blessing would accompany the 
Word when faithfully proclaimed, he paid a visit to 
Warren, on the Western Reserve, at which place was 
the largest and strongest church within the bounds 
of the Association. ‘This congregation had enjoyed 
for many years the labors of Adamson Bentley, to 
whose ministry, in a great measure, its prosperity was 
due. No Baptist minister was better known or more 
highly esteemed than he in all that region. He sympa- 
thized with Mr. Campbell in his views as set forth in 
the “Christian Baptist,” and had, in a great measure, 
under these enlarged views of Bible truth, outgrown 
the limits of the narrow creed of the religious body 
with which he was identified, and had, moreover, ex- 
pressed in public the same views in regard to the de- 
sign of baptism as had recently been turned to such 
practical account by Mr. Scott. 


- Some months before this time, in company with 
Jacob Osborne, a minister of great promise, he had 
gone to Braceville to hold a meeting, and during its 
progress, while speaking with regard to baptism, he 
stated that it was designed to be.a pledge of the re- 
mission of sins. After meeting, on their way home, 
Mr. Osborne said: ‘‘Well, Bro. Bentley, you have 
christened baptism today.” “How so?” said Mr. Bent- 
ley. “You termed it a remitting institution.” “Well,” 
rejoined Mr. Bentley, “I do not see how this conclu- 


53 


cn 


4 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


sion is to be avoided with the Scriptures before us.” 
“It is the truth,” said Mr. Osborne, who was a great 
student of the Bible, “and I have for some time 
thought that the waters of baptism must stand in the 
same position to us that the blood of sacrifices did to 
the Jews. The blood of bulls and of goats could 
never take away sins, as Paul declares, yet when 
offered at the altar by the sinner, he had the divine 
assurance that his sins were forgiven him. ‘This 
blood was merely typical of the blood of Christ, the 
true sin-offering to which it pointed prospectively ; 
and it seems to me that the water in baptism, which 
has no power in itself to wash away sins, now refers 
retrospectively to the purifying power of the blood 
of the Lamb of God.” 

Mr. Scott, not long after, fell in with them, and all 
three went to Howland together; the discourse of 
Bentley at Braceville came up, in course of conver- 
sation, and Scott expressed his agreement with the 
view he had taken of the subject. Mr. Osborne 
preached at Howland, and in his remarks advanced 
the idea that no one had the promise of the Holy 
Spirit until after baptism. The remark seemed to 
strike Mr. Scott with surprise, and after meeting he 
said to Mr. Osborne: “You are a man of great cour- 
age’; and, turning to Mr. Bentley, he added: “Do 
you not think so, Bro. Bentley?’ ‘‘Why?” said Mr. 
Bentley. “Because,” said he, “he ventured to assert 
today that no one had a right to expect the Holy 
Spirit until after baptism.” 

These events took place before the occurrences at 
New Lisbon, and, doubtless, being fresh in the mind 
of Scott, he naturally expected not only a warm wel- 
come from the church in Warren, but also the earnest 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 55 


co-operation of its pastor, Elder Bentley, and Mr. 
Osborne, who was teaching an academy there, as 
they both held the views which he had been so ably — 
and successfully advocating. In this, as far as Elder 
Bentley was concerned, he was at first disappointed ; 
the views which he had expressed at Braceville, with 
regard to the design of baptism, were his views still, 
but he never had thought of making them practical 
or operative, as they recently had been made by Mr. 
Scott, the report of whose doings at New Lisbon had 
preceded him to Warren, and had made the impres- 
sion on the mind of Bentley that his course was one 
differing widely and dangerously from Baptist usage, 
and indeed from the practice of all other churches, 
and in consequence he could not but regard him with 
suspicion. 

Immediately after his arrival, having met with 
Elder Bentley, Scott asked concerning the condition 
of the church, and was told in reply that it was get- 
ting on much as usual; whereupon Scott intimated 
that he was pursuing a course very different from 
that usually taken, but, as he thought, in perfect ac- 
cordance with the teaching of the New Testament 
and the practice of the apostles. He, moreover, 
frankly told him that the views he entertained were 
such as would unsettle the minds of the brethren, 
and if adopted would lead to the giving up of many 
things which they as Baptists held dear, but that the 
result would be a purer and more useful church. “I 
have,” said he, “got the saw by the handle, and I ex- 
pect to saw you all asunder’—meaning by this, that 
their creed and church articles must give way before 
the truth of God, which he proposed to insist upon 
as the only rule and guide for the church. 


56 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Bentley did not enter into the spirit nor catch the 
enthusiasm of the ardent evangelist; the course pro- 
posed seemed to him revolutionary—one in which 
there might be great danger, and for which he did 
not feel prepared, and when Scott urged that an ap- 
pointment be given out for him to preach that even- 
ing in the Baptist church, he intimated that he thought 
it best for him not to begin his labors just then— 
wishing, no doubt, to learn more of the course he 
expected to pursue before he gave it his help and 
approval. Scott felt, however, that the King’s busi- 
ness required haste, and insisted that an appointment 
should be made, and, after they parted, sent a note to 
Jacob Osborne, then engaged in teaching, requesting 
him to give notice through his pupils that there 
would be preaching that night at the Baptist church, 
which was done. On learning this, Elder Bentley 
gave orders that the meeting-house should not be 
opened that night, in consequence of which Scott pro- 
cured the use of the court-house, and had the people 
notified that he would address them there. An 
audience, mainly of young people, assembled, and 
he addressed them in such a manner as to make a 
most favorable impression, and at the close of his 
discourse he requested them to make it known that 
on the next night he would tell all who might favor 
him with their presence something they had never 
heard before. This, of course, was the means of 
letting every one in the town and vicinity know that 
something out of the usual order might be expected. 

The next day Scott met with Bentley and Osborne, 
and Bentley withdrew his opposition, and agreed that 
the meeting should be held that night in the church 
instead of the court-house. A large audience gath- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 57 


ered, and the zeal and eloquence of the preacher car- 
ried his hearers by storm. He presented Christianity 
in virgin robes of truth and purity, as when she de- 
scended from her native skies—and sectarianism in 
every form suffered by the contrast. The religion of 
the New Testament, in all its beauty and simplicity, 
‘stripped of the difficulties with which human teach- 
ing had encumbered and disfigured it, was shown to 
be perfectly adapted to human wants and woes, and 
the fullness and freeness of the salvation which it 
offered, contrasted with the narrow partialism of the 
prevailing Calvinism of the times, made it seem like 
a gospel indeed—glad tidings of great joy to all peo- 
ple. The next night brought a still larger audience 
and an increased interest. The prejudices of Bentley 
gave way under the luminous exhibitions of the gos- 
pel, and he soon embraced heartily the truth which 
Scott presented with fidelity and power. With some 
of these views, as we have seen, he had for some time 
been familiar, but until now he had never realized 
their practical significance, nor had they ever brought 
such joy to his heart before. Soon, too, the uncon- 
verted portion of the audience began to yield to the 
claims of the gospel; and as they inquired anxiously, 
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?” they were 
met with the same answer which was given to the 
same question in the days of old. Baptism on a 
simple confession of faith in Jesus as the Son of God 
speedily followed, the newly baptized were added to 
the church, and what was said of Samaria after the 
preaching of Philip was true of Warren—“there was 
great joy in that city.” 


58 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Scott spent eight days in all at that visit, during 
which time twenty-nine persons were baptized, and 
the entire Baptist Church, with one or two excep- 
tions, accepted the new order of things, which had 
so long been forgotten. 

The work, however, did not stop on the departure 
of the preacher—the truth wrought mightily in the 
community, the Bible was read and searched as never 
before, members of other churches were led to exam- 
ine the new doctrine, as it was called, and this led 
them to see the weakness of partyism, and resulted 
in the conviction that it was true, and led them to 
abandon their old and long-cherished associations and 
unite with those who had taken the Word of God 
alone as their guide. Among the converts during 
the first visit of Scott, was John Tait, a man of great 
stature and strong will; he was a Presbyterian, 
warmly attached to the faith of his fathers, and when 
his wife, who had attended on Scott’s preaching, 
resolved to confess Christ and be baptized, he op- 
posed her bitterly, and even went so far as to threaten 
violence to the preacher if he should baptize her. 
The preacher, not in the least intimidated, gave him 
to understand that, if his wife wished to be baptized, 
he would baptize her even if he, her husband, should 
stand with a drawn sword to prevent it. The wife, 
fully convinced that it was her duty to render this 
act of obedience to her Lord, notwithstanding the 
violent opposition of her husband, was determined to 
be baptized. Almost frantic with excitement, he 
called on Scott, and found him in company with sev- 
eral preachers who were attending the meeting, and 
forbade the baptism of his wife. Scott and Bentley 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 59 


attempted, but in vain, for a time to reason with him, 
urging that his wife was acting in accordance with 
her convictions of duty as set forth in the Word of 
God, and that in a matter of such moment she ought 
to be allowed to decide for herself. It was long be- 
fore he could be calmed sufficiently to reason upon the 
subject, but the mildness and gentleness with which 
Scott treated him caused him in a measure to relent 
and listen to what the Word of God, for which he 
professed a deep reverence, had to say upon the mat- 
ter. As the examination of the Scriptures proceeded, 
and the light began to dawn upon his mind, his man- 
ner and feelings underwent a great change, and, | 
deeply moved, he said to Mr. Scott, “Will you pray 
for me?” ‘No, sir,” said he, “I will not pray for a 
man who will so rudely oppose his wife in her desire 
to do the will of God, but perhaps this brother will 
pray for you.” The brother named did so, with great 
earnestness and fervor, and Tait was so melted dur- 
ing the prayer that, when they rose from their knees, 
he, in a very humble manner, asked to be baptized. 
His request was granted, and among the new con- 
verts there was none happier or more earnest than 
John Tait. Not long after his baptism Mr. Tait met 
with his former pastor, and entered into conversation 
with him with regard to the change in his views and 
church relationship. The Scriptures were appealed 
to, and Tait urged upon him that he should, in accord- 
ance with their teaching, be baptized for the remis- 
sion of sins. ‘What!’ said the minister, “would you 
have me to be baptized contrary to my conscience?” 
“Yes” said Tait. ‘Were you, Mr. Tait,” he replied, 


60 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


> 


“baptized contrary to your conscience?” “Yes,” was 
the reply, ‘I was. My conscience told me that 
sprinkling in infancy would do, but the Word of God 
said: ‘Be baptized for the remission of sins,’ and | 
thought it better to tear my conscience than to tear 
a leaf out of the Bible.” 

This interview made a deep impression upon the 
minister. The more he looked at the Bible in regard 
to the matter, the more he doubted his former teach- 
ing on the subject, and he soon abandoned his pulpit; 
he felt that he could no longer preach as before, but 
he lacked the courage to say that he had been preach- 
ing a human theory, and to preach thenceforth only 
what was taught in the Word of God. 

The interest awakened by Scott’s first visit did not 
prove to be a short-lived one; on the contrary, it 
continued to deepen and widen; the entire com- 
munity was stirred and aroused. Many of the con- 
gregations in the adjacent towns partook of the prev- 
alent spirit, and the entire winter was characterized 
by a religious zeal and success such as never had been 
known in that region before. All the new converts 
had to defend the faith they had embraced, and, with 
the Bible in their hands, they fully proved their ability 
to do so, and numerous additions were made to the 
church at Warren. 

Bentley and Osborne followed up the work which 
Scott had begun with great zeal and success. The 
return of Scott on several occasions within a brief 
period, added to the prevailing interest, and in five 
months the membership at Warren was doubled, the 
additions amounting to one hundred and seventeen. 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 61 


The most important result of Mr. Scott’s visit to 
Warren was the enlistment of Elder Bentley in the 
adoption and advocacy of his views of the ancient 
gospel. His untiring and successful labors rendered 
him one of the most useful men of the time, and no 
one contributed more than he to the spread of the 
Reformation over the Western Reserve, and also by 
means of his numerous converts through the Great 
West. 


CHAE TH RGEN 


J°HE year 1827-28 proved to be a year of battle 

and of victory. Great success in one field was 
the harbinger of triumph in the next, and after the 
successful issue of the meeting at Warren, Scott was 
so well assured of the power of the primitive gospel 
to subdue the heart, that wherever he went he now 
preached without the least misgiving, and boldly called 
on his hearers to submit to the claims of Christ the 
Lord. He had by this time also several true and 
earnest fellow-laborers, who entered into the work 
with all the zeal of new converts, and wherever these 
preachers of the ancient faith appeared, the truth ran 
through the community like fire through dry stubble. 


From this period for some time to come, it will be 
impossible to preserve the strict order of time in con- 
sequence of the many changes in fields of labor, 
which were often as varied as the passing day. 
Morning often found the tireless Scott at one point, 
and evening at another, miles away. It was not un- 
common for him to occupy the court-house or school- 
house in the morning at the county seat, address a 
large assembly in some great grove in the afternoon, 
and have the private dwelling, which gave him shelter, 
crowded with neighbors at night, to hear him before 
he sought his needed rest. Sometimes the interest 
would be continued until midnight; and in those 
stirring times it was not unusual for those who, on 
such occasions, felt the power of the truth, to be 
baptized before the morning dawned. For months 
together nearly every day witnessed new converts to 
the truth; several ministers of various denominations 


62 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 63 


fell in with the views which he presented with such 
force and clearness, and these in turn exerted their 
influence over their former flocks, and led them to 
embrace the views which had brought such comfort 
and peace to their own souls. 

While preaching at Hiram, Portage County, a Revy- 
olutionary colonel, eighty-four years of age, rose up 
in the midst of the congregation, and pointing with 
his finger to the parable of the laborers in the vine- 
yard, said to Mr. Scott: “Sir ushalleta recetve a 
penny? it is the eleventh hour.” “Yes,” was the 
reply, “the Lord commands it, and you shall receive 
a penny.” ‘The audience was greatly affected, and 
the venerable soldier was forthwith enrolled in the 
army of the faith. 

Another gentleman says, that though a Bible-reader, 
he had sought in vain for a church that taught as 
his Bible read. But riding along the public road one 
day, he saw a number of horses tied in the woods, 
a great crowd gathered and some one addressing 
them. Without being aware of the character of the 
meeting, curiosity led him to turn aside and see; when 
he came nearer he found that it was a religious meet- 
ing, and that the preacher was setting forth the gospel 
just as it had ever seemed to him in his readings ; 
and before the speaker, who was none other than 
Walter Scott, had closed, he determined that that 
people should be his people, and their God his God, 
and to that resolve he has been true more than forty 
years. 


CHAPTERUX 


S might have been expected, the labors and suc- 
cess of Scott aroused great inquiry and opposi- 
tion, and the wildest rumors were circulated with 
regard to the course he pursued, the great peculiarity 
of which was, that it differed widely from that which 
had hitherto been the rule in all attempts at conver- 
sion. Many supposed that, in connecting baptism in 
some way with the remission of sins, that he at- 
tributed to water a virtue kindred to the blood of 
Christ, and therefore concluded that all the sinner 
had to do was to be immersed, while he really re- 
garded it as an act of obedience expressive of perfect 
trust in Christ for pardon, as an acceptance of the 
offer made in the gospel to all who truly believed and 
turned away from their sins. 


And yet for teaching what the great majority of the 
Christian world admit, in theory at least, and what is 
taught in the Word of God most clearly, he was rep- 
resented as the author of an hitherto unheard-of and 
soul-destroying heresy. These rumors reached the 
ears of his friend and fellow-laborer in the cause of 
religious reform, Alexander Campbell, who fearing 
that Mr. Scott might have been carried by his en- 
thusiastic nature beyond the bounds of prudence, sent 
his father, a man of rare wisdom and judgment, to 
find out the true state of the case. This venerable 
and pious man visited the scene of Scott’s labors in 
the spring of 1828, and, after carefully observing the 
course he pursued, sent the following account of it 
to his son: 


64 


aod 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 69 


‘<T perceive that theory and practice in religion, as well 
as in other things, are matters of distinct consideration. It 
is one thing to know concerning the art of fishing—for in- 
stance, the rod, the line, the hook, and the bait, too; and 
quite another thing to handle them dextrously when thrown 
into the water, so as to make it take. We have long known 
the former (the theory), and have spoken and published 
many things correctly concerning the ancient gospel, its 
simplicity and perfect adaptation to the present state of man- 
kind, for the benign and gracious purposes of his immediate 
relief and complete salvation; but I must confess that, in 
respect to the direct exhibition and application of it for that 
blessed purpose, I am at present for the first time upon the 
ground where the thing has appeared to be practically ex- 
hibited to the proper purpose. ‘Compel them to come jared 
saith our Lord, ‘that my house may be filled.’ ”’ 


With regard to Scott’s mode of obtaining and sep- 
arating disciples, he added: 


‘‘Mr. Scott has made a bold push to accomplish this object, 
by simply and boldly stating the ancient gospel, and insisting 
upon it; and then by putting the question generally and 
particularly to males and females, old and young. Will you 
come to Christ and be baptized for the remission of your sins 
and the gift of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you believe this 
blessed gospel? Then come away. This elicits a personal 
conversation; some confess faith in the testimony, beg time 
to think; others consent, give their hands to be baptized as 
goon as convenient; others debate the matter friendly; some 
go straight to the water, be it day or night, and upon the 
whole none appear offended.’’ 


Fully approving all that he heard and saw, the 
elder Campbell spent several months in Scott’s field 
of labor, and most heartily co-operated with him, and 
contributed much to his success, as will appear in the 
sequel. 


66 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


The next scene of the evangelical labors of Elder 
Scott was at Sharon, a small village in Mercer County, 
Pennsylvania, situated on the Shenango River, and 
almost on the line between that State and the portion 
of Ohio in which the principles of the Reformation 
had lately spread so rapidly. The Baptist Churches 
at Warren and Hubbard, only a few miles distant, had 
embraced the new views almost in a body, so generally, 
indeed, that both houses of worship passed quietly 
into the hands of the Disciples; and in the case of 
Warren, as previously noted, not only the greater part 
of the congregation; but the preacher also accepted 
the truth so ably and eloquently urged by Scott, and 
became himself an earnest and successful advocate 
of the same. Some of the Sharon Baptists had heard 
of the great change which had taken place in the 
two sister churches; some of the members had even 
gone so far as to visit them, and could find no well- 
founded objections to what they had heard stigmatized 
as heresy; nay, it seemed to them strangely like gospel 
truth; and some of them went so far as to sit down 
at the Lord’s Table with those self-same heretics. 


The new church continued to grow in the favor of 
God and the people, who knew that they had been 
called to suffer for the truth’s sake. They continued 
to meet for some time, like the ancient church, from 
house to house, the Lord adding frequently to their 
number. Elder Scott, who had been with them in 
the day of their trouble, visited them in their pros- 
perity, and greatly strengthened them by his earnest 
and efficient labors, and was himself greatly en-— 
couraged to see their growth in numbers and the fear 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 67 


of the Lord, so that he could adopt the saying of the 
beloved apostle, “I have no greater joy than to see 
my children walk in truth!” Nor was the effect of 
his labors a transient one, for though his voice has 
long ceased to be heard on the banks of the Shen- 
ango, and many of those whom he called into the 
kingdom of Christ have departed in glorious hope, 
the cause he pleaded is still alive and flourishing. 


CHAPTER XI 


EERFIELD, Portage County, was noted for the 

spirit of earnest religious inquiry which pre- 
vailed there for years before Scott visited that place 
and gathered so rich a harvest. This was the home 
of Jonas Hartzell and many others, who afterwards 
aided so much to spread the truth in that region. 

As the result of the investigation of religious mat- 
ters in that community, a little society was formed for 
the express purpose of examining the Scriptures, and, 
if possible, arriving at something like common ground. 
This little band was composed of Cornelius P. Finch, 
who was a Methodist preacher, and his wife; Ephraim 
P. Hubbard, an active Methodist, and his wife, who 
was a Baptist; Samuel McGowan, a Baptist, and his 
wife, who was a Presbyterian; Peter Hartzell, a 
Presbyterian, and his wife, a Baptist; Jonas Hartzell, 
a Presbyterian, and his wife, a Methodist ; and Gideon 
Hoadly, an active and venerable member of the 
Methodist Church, and a few others. Differing, as 
they did, scarcely any two of the same family being 
of the same religious faith, they all agreed that the 
New Testament was right, and that it was safe to re- 
ceive whatever was recorded there. The sadly di- 
vided state in which they at first found themselves 
was soon discovered to be the effect of partyism, and 
the measurable unity which they soon attained from 
an honest examination of the Word of God, they at- 
tributed rightly to the power of the truth. 

In the various families composing this little band, 
Finch and his wife were the only ones who agreed; 
but when the “old paths” were found, it was easy 
for all to walk and dwell together in peace and unity. 


68 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 69 


One of the members—Ephraim Hubbard—had 
stipulated, on uniting with the Methodist Church 
years before, that he should not be bound by the 
Book of Discipline; but baptism by immersion had 
been denied him by several ministers, on the ground 
that it would amount to a denial of sprinkling, to 
which he had been subjected in infancy. Hearing 
that a baptism was to take place some miles distant 
by what he deemed to be the only scriptural mode, 
he took a change of clothing and started for the ap- 
pointed place; on reaching it he found his brother, 
who was a Methodist preacher, there, and informed 
him of his purpose; his brother said, “You cannot 
be more dissatisfied with your baptism than I am 
with mine; and if I had a change of clothing I would 
go with you.” That want was soon supplied, and 
when the invitation was given for the candidates to 
present themselves, the two brothers were the first 
to do so. 

He still retained his membership in the Methodist 
Church, but the change which was continually going 
on in his mind in consequence of increasing light, 
soon led the preacher who was over the small charge 
of which he was a member, to declare that Hubbard 
and all those who agreed with him were not Method- 
ists, as they acknowledged no other rule of faith and 
practice save the Holy Scriptures; and when his con- 
gregation—about eighteen in number—were present, 
he drew the line between those who sympathized with 
him and the church and those who had adopted the 
views entertained by Hubbard by asking all who were 
Methodists to rise; five did so, and thirteen stood up 
for the Word of God. 


70 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


These, of course, had the sympathy of all in the 
community who had become dissatisfied with the 
teaching of the various religious parties with which 
they were associated; and the way having been pre- 
pared by the meetings previously described, and the 
discussions and investigations which had taken place 
among them, they met to see if some way could not 
be devised by which they all could be united in a 
New Testament church. The chief difficulty was that 
they had no model among them that they could safely 
imitate; but having heard that there was a church at 
Braceville on a strictly Bible foundation, Hubbard and 
Finch paid a visit to the church there, and, to their 
great joy; found that it was true. 


They invited Marcus Bosworth, who was _ the 
teacher of the congregation, to visit and preach to 
them; he came, bringing with him Adamson Bentley, 
who, with his congregation at Warren, had but a 
short time before accepted New Testament views, and 
abandoned all human creeds; and, under the teaching 
of these godly men, all who had not been immersed 
received that ordinance and were organized into a 
gospel church; and Finch, who had preached among 
the Methodists, was formally set apart to the work of 
the ministry. 


This little band grew and prospered rapidly. Nearly 
all the men became public speakers; among them 
was Jonas Hartzell, who became a most zealous and 
efficient public laborer both with tongue and pen; 
and it was a current saying through the Western 
Reserve that all the male members of the Deerfield 
church were preachers. 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 71 


The visit of Elders Bentley and Bosworth opened 
the way for a visit from Scott, which was attended 
with great success and permanent results. 

More than forty years after that visit these lines 
were penned at the scene of these labors amid those 
who never will forget him, who threw so much light 
on their pathway, and who expect, at no distant day, 
to meet him in the better land. 

A sister Allerton had been at Canton, Stark 
County, for some time for medical treatment, and on 
her return home was informed by her sister of the 
religious changes which had taken place during her 
absence. She told of the few disciples who had 
begun to meet there, and said: “I have been to hear 
them, and O sister! they reminded me of the twelve 
who followed our Lord when on earth; they are plain, 
pious men; they talk just as the Bible reads: they 
surely are the people of God!” 

One of the most prominent persons in the com- 
munity was Amos Allerton, a natural ruler of men, 
tall, erect, sinewy, of strong mind and clear judg- 
ment, which, in a measure, compensated for lack of 
educational advantages; a man of noble impulses, 
kind and helpful, yet severely just. In religious mat- 
ters he was skeptical, rendered so by the discords and 
conflicting views of the various religious bodies; he 
could not imagine how a system could be divine 
which abounded in contradictions; how God could 
send men, as was then claimed, to preach doctrines 
subversive of each other: he supposed that the Bible 
must teach what the preachers of various denomina- 
tion claimed that it did, and hence rejected the 
Bible. He had attempted to be religious according 
to the popular theories of the day, but they did not 


72 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


satisfy either his mind or heart; he could not endure 
to walk in doubt or darkness, or rest his hopes upon 
transient feeling or a peradventure; he desired to 
feel the rock under his feet; but the human theories 
to which he was directed were as uncertain and un- 
safe as the desert sands. 

It was noised abroad that Walter Scott would 
preach at a private house in the vicinity, and, as his 
fame had preceded him, a large concourse assembled 
to hear him; among the throng was Amos Allerton, 
not at all favorably impressed by what he heard of 
the preacher and his new doctrine, but on the con- 
trary, disposed to criticise and cavil. He had been 
told that Scott preached a water salvation (as his 
views of baptism for the remission of sins were 
termed), and on that bright morning on his way to 
hear the strange preacher, he had stopped at a clear 
brook to quench his thirst, and as he did so, he said 
in scorn and disdain: ‘Can this element wash away 
sins?” Reaching the appointed place, he found in the 
preacher not a glib and noisy religious polemic, but 
a meek, earnest, and gifted advocate of the pure and 
simple gospel of Jesus Christ, which he unfolded with 
a clearness, tenderness, and earnestness that he had 
never witnessed before. His skepticism yielded be- 
fore the array of truth which was presented, and his 
heart was touched with the love of Him who came to 
save a lost world. He saw that the gospel call was 
not to baptism only, but to an abandonment of sin to 
an earnest, true, and pure life. He listened for hours, 
which scarcely seemed more than minutes, every sen- 
tence convincing his judgment and appealing to his 
heart. The preacher closed with an appeal to those 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 73 


who believed the truth to avow their faith publicly in 
the Son of God. 

Allerton started forward; Ephraim Hubbard, a 
faithful and earnest disciple, saw the movement and 
trembled, thinking that he was advancing to make 
some disturbance; but as he came nearer, he saw 
eyes not flashing with the light of rebuke and con- 
troversy, but melted to tenderness and tears, and 
with a shout of joy he welcomed him gladly. With 
profound earnestness he confessed his faith in the 
Savior of mankind, and was the same day buried with 
Christ by baptism; and the sun on that day set on 
few happier men than Amos Allerton. Nor was this 
change a transient one, but a change of the entire 
current of his thoughts and life; he soon began to 
teach others to walk in the way upon which he him- 
self had entered. His rare, clear sense and spotless 
integrity soon made his influence felt, and a little 
practice sufficed to enable him to present his thoughts 
with a vigorous, common sense, and an earnestness 
that it was difficult to resist. 

Grateful for his own escape from the dominion of 
doubt and chilling unbelief, he began to point out the 
way of emancipation to others. The cross and its 
bleeding Victim to move the heart, and the teachings 
of Jesus to direct the life, were used with wonderful 
power. His fame spread; large audiences gathered 
to hear the plain farmer, so suddenly transformed 
into a preacher of righteousness; and the curiosity 
which brought them to hear was, in many cases, 
changed into a deep and abiding interest in the great 
themes he presented; and scores and hundreds were, 
through his labors, brought to a knowledge of the 
way of life. Though destitute of the aids of learn- 


74 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


ing, he was a vigorous and original thinker. His 
Bible was his theological library; and from nature 
and society he drew illustrations which all could un- 
derstand; while his zeal, his earnestness, and his life, 
all rendered his teaching searching, impressive, and 
convincing. 

Living yet in a vigorous old age, the moisture will 
gather in his eye, and his voice tremble with emotion 
as he speaks of Scott, who, nearly half a century 
since, helped him out of the perils of infidelity, and 
pointed out the true pathway on which the true light 
shineth, even the light of God. 

Another incident connected with Scott’s first visit 
to Deerfield is worthy of a place here. He presented 
himself first at the residence of FE. Hubbard and 
offered to preach if a suitable place could be pro- 
cured. He immediately went to consult Finch, who 
was not in favor of Scott’s preaching, saying it would 
ruin them. This was in consequence of the rumors 
that were afloat with regard to his eccentricities and 
the misrepresentations of his teachings. Hubbard 
insisted, however, that Scott must preach, and the 
Methodist church was procured. Finch was present, 
and Scott had not completed his discourse before he 
was convinced that he could sit at his feet in matters 
pertaining to a knowledge of New Testament Chris- 
tianity. Hubbard himself soon became a_ public 
teacher; and so prudent and careful was he, that a 
Lutheran minister of fine abilities and education, 
after listening to him, said: “Mr. Hubbard, I came 
here to criticise you and point out your errors.” 
‘Why do you not do so then?” he asked. ‘“Be- 
cause,” he replied, “you have said nothing but that 
which I feel compelled warmly to approve.” And it 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT v5 


was not very long after that this same minister gave 
up his place as pastor of a large congregation, his 
salary, reputation, and all that could bind a man to a 
powerful and influential religious party, to receive 
baptism at the hands of a plain farmer, who, with the 
Bible in his hands, could teach Christianity as it came 
from the apostles of the Lamb. 

Hubbard, after a long, honorable, and useful career, 
still lives at the age of fourscore, the days of his 
active usefulness past, but waiting patiently for his 
change in glorious hope, trusting to say with his 
latest breath, “Thanks be to God that giveth us the 
victory !” 

In the freedom of their social intercourse, Hayden 
once ventured the remark that his charity was too 
profuse for one of his limited means, and that it 
should never be carried to the extent of causing in- 
convenience to his own household. At this he 
winced a little, for it was true—his kindness of heart 
was apt to make him forget all considerations of pru- 
dence: for, though no man could love his family more 
tenderly than did he, yet he could not help giving 
whatever he had to the nearest needy object, leaving 
himself often in as great need as the object of his 
benevolence lately had been. In a word, the needs 
of others ever seemed to him greater than his own. 
It was not in his nature to say no when he had a 
dollar in his purse or a garment beyond what he had 
on, when others needed one or the other or both. 
Well knowing this weakness, if weakness it were, 
Hayden said: “Bro. Scott, you ought not to handle 
a dollar; whatever means you have ought to be in 
the hands of some one with less sympathy and more 
judgment than yourself, to manage for you, and see 


76 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


that your own are well cared for before others are 
helped.” Instead of becoming offended, he replied 
pleasantly: “Bro. Hayden, I believe you are right; 
you are a good manager, a man of thrift and pru- 
dence—will you do me this service?” “I will,” was 
the reply. “You are the very man for the work,” 

said Scott, “and I will hold you to it.” | 


While Scott was on a visit to Father Hayden’s, 
near Youngstown, it was announced that Lawrence 
Greatrake, a Baptist preacher, notorious for his oppo- 
sition to the Disciples, would preach in the vicinity. 
Scott determined to go and hear him, but fearing 
that he might be provoked to a reply by a man who 
was coarse and rude in his assaults, the family per- 
suaded him not to go. He started off, but at part- 
ing told them to be sure to go and hear the Great 
Rake. After going some distance he changed his 
mind, rode to the place of meeting, and instead of 
going in went to an open window in the rear of the 
building, close to the pulpit. The preacher took the 
pulpit, and in his prayer, as preparatory to his medi- 
tated onslaught on the Disciples, said: “O Lord, do 
thou restrain or remove those wolves who are going 
about in sheep’s clothing, scattering the flock and 
destroying the lambs.” At this point Scott, in a voice 
that could be heard by all present, uttered a hearty 
“amen,” which so disconcerted the preacher that it 
was with difficulty that he could finish his prayer. 

It was in the early part of the year 1828 that Ay- 
lette Raines, a Universalist preacher, a young man of 
fine abilities, formed an acquaintance with Scott, the 
result of which was the abandonment of his former 
views and embracing and successfully advocating 
those set forth by his new and gifted friend. Raines 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 77 


had heard of the new preacher, and also the current 
but distorted rumors with regard to his teaching, 
and his curiosity being aroused he sought an oppor- 
tunity of hearing him, intending, if possible, to draw 
him into a discussion, supposing the views of Scott 
‘to be as vulnerable as those of other religious bodies, 
which, on account of their partial, one-sided, and even 
contradictory nature, he found but little difficulty in 
overthrowing. 

The first discourse he heard from Scott was in 
his best vein, clear, convincing, scriptural—so much 
so that Raines saw in it much to admire and noth- 
ing to condemn; and when at the close, as was his 
custom, he invited any one present to make any re- 
marks he might think proper, Raines arose and ex- 
pressed his great pleasure and warm approval of all 
that he had heard. After this he went to hear Scott 
frequently, not to cavil but to learn, for he soon per- 
ceived that he had no particular system of religious 
philosophy to advance, but set forth Bible truth with 
a vigor and simplicity that was entirely new. 

The system advocated by Raines did not deny the 
future punishment of the wicked, but set forth that 
it would be limited in duration, and that the subjects 
of it would finally be made holy and happy. This 
view Scott described as a gospel to get people out of 
hell, and that which he preached as designed to pre- 
vent them from going there—the one adapted to this 
world; the other, even if true, adapted only to the 
world to come, and consequently that it was useless 
to preach it here. 

Soon the views of Raines underwent a marked 
change, and he sought his friend Ebenezer Williams, 
the ablest advocate of Universalism in that region, 


78 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


and laid before him the change which had taken 
place in his mind and the reasons for it. These 
were heard and carefully canvassed. The two friends 
spent many of the hours usually devoted to sleep in 
an earnest and candid examination of the Scriptures, 
and the result was that Williams was soon as firmly 
convinced of the truth of the views held by his amia- 
ble and gifted young friend, which he had learned 
from the lips of Scott, as he was himself; and. to- 
gether they went down to a small lake near at hand 
and mutually baptized each other in its clear waters. 
They then threw themselves with the utmost energy 
into the work of preaching the gospel as distinguished 
from human systems, and with great success. 

The first fruits of the labors of Raines alone, with- 
in a few weeks after his baptism, was the conversion 
of about fifty persons, including three Universalist 
preachers. Hundreds have been turned from their 
sins by their united and earnest labors, and Universal- 
ism has never received heavier or deadlier blows than 
those dealt with the sword of the Spirit in the hands 
of Ebenezer Williams and Aylette Raines. Nearly 
half a century has passed, and each succeeding year 
has only proved that they abandoned destructive error 
for saving truth. Williams not long ago departed to 
his rest; Raines still lingers on the shores of time, 
his work nearly done, his reward not distant. 


CHAPTER XII 


OR months the scenes at New Lisbon, Warren, 

Deerfield, and other points already noted, were 
repeated with but slight variation at various other 
places. Such a change as took place within the 
bounds of the Mahoning Association under the labors 
of Scott has seldom been equaled. Apathy and in- 
difference vanished, the dry bones in the Mahoning 
Valley were clothed with flesh and blood and stood 
upright, professors were roused to a new and un- 
wonted zeal, and every where sinners became deeply 
concerned. ‘The Bible was read with new interest, 
for the people had learned that it was not a dead 
letter, but the living word of the living God. The 
new views were canvassed in every village and almost 
every dwelling. Men from forest, field, and work- 
shop gladly heard and willingly obeyed a gospel 
which was but a republication of that first preached 
in Judea; and many of these, in turn, told to others 
the story that had won their hearts by its sweetness 
and simplicity. 

The beautiful Mahoning became a second Jordan, 
and Scott another John calling on the people to pre- 
pare the way of the Lord. Every where among the 
new converts arose men earnest and bold as the Gal- 
ilean fisherman, telling, too, the same story, calling 
their neighbors to repentance, and baptizing them in 
its clear waters. The small lakes within the same 
district became distinguished for baptismal scenes; 
and frequently by the blaze of torches or the moon’s 
pale beams individuals and families, like that of the 


79 


SO LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Philippian jailer, were baptized at the same hour of 
the night. 

The strange captivating eloquence of Scott drew 
crowds whenever it was known that he would preach, 
and he was not slow to make, as well as to embrace, 
opportunities. In the groves, which have been well 
called God’s first temples, he would discourse with 
rare eloquence and power during the day, and at 
night in barn, school house, or private dwelling he 
would discourse to smaller but still more deeply in- 
terested audiences, consisting not of those who were 
drawn together from mere curiosity or from admira- 
tion of his wonderful powers, but of those upon whose 
hearts the truth had made an impression, earnest 
searchers after the right ways of God, who followed 
and listened, and sought not in vain. 

Alone at first he labored, but soon he found earnest 
and faithful helpers, not only among those who had 
been teaching the way of the Lord yet imperfectly, 
and who gladly accepted the truth as he presented 
it; but, in addition to these, many of his converts to 
whom the popular theories were contradictory and 
distasteful, as soon as the truth, harmony, and con- 
sistency of the gospel was presented, received it 
gladly, and with great plainness and power urged 
upon their neighbors that which had brought such 
comfort and blessing to their own souls. 

Nor were instances rare of skeptics abandoning 
their skepticism and becoming the advocates, not of 
modern but New Testament Christianity. Men em- 
inent in various professions saw a truth and beauty 
in the simple gospel and yielded to its charms, and 
even many who had publicly opposed it from the 
pulpit not only ceased their opposition but became its 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 81 


advocates. Nearly every convert became a preacher 
either in public or private; the New Testament was 
studied by day and meditated upon by night; scarcely 
a Disciple could be found without a small copy of the 
Sacred Oracles in his pocket as his daily companion; 
numbers had their minds so stored with its truths 
that they could readily quote from memory whatever 
the occasion demanded—so much so that they were 
known as book men, the men of one book, and in a 
few cases as “walking Bibles.” 

Wholly absorbed, as Elder Scott was, in making 
known the truths which to him and thousands who 
heard him possessed the charm almost of a new rev- 
elation, it is not a matter of wonder that such un- 
wonted zeal and devotion should lead him into what 
to cold and undemonstrative natures seemed as en- 
thusiasm and eccentricity. This, indeed, took place 
in many instances when the preacher could say with 
truth, “I speak the words of truth and soberness”— 
and his fire, and zeal, and earnestness were regarded 
as eccentricity only because they were so unusual. 

Riding into a village near the close of the day, he 
addressed himself to the school children who were 
returning home from school, in such a way that he 
soon had quite a circle of them gathered round him. 
He then said to them: “Children, hold up your left 
hands.” They all did so, anticipating some sport. 
“Now,” said he, “beginning with your thumb repeat 
what I say to you: Faith, repentance, baptism, remis- 
sion of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit—that takes up 
all your fingers. Now, again: Faith, repentance, 
baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit. 
Now, again, faster, altogether: Faith, repentance, 
baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit’”— 


$2 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


and thus he continued until they all could repeat it 
in concert, like a column of the multiplication table. 
They were all intensely amused, thinking that he was 
a harmless, crazy man. He then said: “Children, 
now run home—don’t forget what is on your fingers, 
and tell your parents that a man will preach the gos- 
pel tonight at the school house, as you have it on the 
five fingers of your hands.” Away went the children, 
in great glee, repeating as they went, “Faith, repent- 
ance, baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy 
Spirit”—and soon the story was rehearsed in nearly 
every house of the village and neighborhood; and long 
before the hour of meeting the house was thronged, 
and, of course, not a few of the children were there, 
all expecting to have great sport with the crazy man. 

The preacher rose, opened his meeting, and entered 
upon a plain and simple presentation of the gospel. 
But, alas! most of his hearers were Baptists of the 
ultra-Calvinistic school, who would much rather have 
heard a discourse upon total depravity or uncondi- 
tional election than the theme in which the speaker 
was endeavoring to interest them. They, perhaps, like 
the children, had anticipated some sport, but, whether 
it was from indifference or disappointment, they paid 
but little attention, and many of them fell asleep. 

Sad, too, was the disappointment of the little peo- 
ple who had crowded to the front seats to enjoy the 
anticipated sport, for they discovered that he was not 
a crazy man after all. They were getting tired, too, 
and, like the older ones who were awake, wished 
that the speaker would close. 

But soon the scene changed. Addressing himself 
abruptly to the little boys, who were getting restless, 
he said: “Boys, did you ever play toad sky-high?” 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 83 


They all brightened up in a moment. Now, they 
thought, the fun is coming at last. ‘Well, boys,” he 
proceeded, “I’ll tell you how we used to play it in 
Scotland. First, we caught a toad, and went out into 
a clear open place, and got a log or a big stone, and 
across this we laid a plank or board, one end of which 
rested on the ground and the other stuck up in the 
air. We then placed the toad on the lower end, and 
took a big stick and struck the upper part of the 
board with all our might. The other end flew up, 
and away went the toad sky-high.” At this the boys 
all laughed, and the sleepers rubbed their eyes and 
looked round to see what was the matter—and the 
speaker went on: “But, boys, that was not right; 
that toad was one of God’s creatures, and could feel 
pain as well as any of you. It was a poor, harmless 
thing, and it was wicked for us boys to send it thus 
flying through the air, for in most cases, when the 
toad came down the poor thing would be dead—and, 
boys, we felt very badly when we saw the blood 
staining its brown skin and its body bruised and its 
limbs broken, and lying motionless upon the grass 
through which it had hopped so merrily a few minutes 
before.” 

The boys began to feel very serious at this; but 
when he went on and described the enormity of such 
thoughtless wickedness, which ended in taking a life 
which could not be restored, many of them were 
moved to tears at the sad fate of the poor toad. Then 
turning to his audience, who had become aroused and 
interested, he burst upon them with words of bitter 
and scorching rebuke, asking what they, professed 
Christians, thought of themselves, going to sleep 
under the story of a Savior’s death and a Savior’s 


384 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


love, while the hearts of the children were melted, 
and their tears flowing at the recital of the sufferings 
of a poor toad. 

Soon his hearers were as much interested as the 
children lately had been; and though the preacher 
remained for quite a season in their midst, he never 
again addressed a listless and sleepy audience; the 
interest increased with every evening, and many had 
reason to be grateful to God that they had ever heard 
the preacher, who made the children circulate his ap- 
pointment by sending them home with the gospel on 
their fingers. 

On another occasion he was requested to preach 
one evening in a school house near Warren, and, 
judging from the nature of the invitation, he fully 
expected to meet a good audience; but on reaching 
the place he found but few assembled, and concluded 
that he would not preach. After waiting until it was 
evident that no more would come, he rose and re- 
marked that being a stranger to them, and they 
strangers to him, he had not sufficient knowledge of 
their views, feelings, and wants, to adapt his address 
to them without some further information. He then 
asked all who were present who were on the Lord’s 
side to arise. As he anticipated, no one got up. He 
then asked all who were in favor of the devil to rise, 
but no one responded to the invitation. After looking 
at them for a few moments, he said that he had never 
seen such an audience before; if they had stood up 
either for God or the devil he would have known how 
to address them: as the matter stood, he would have 
to study their case, and try, if possible, to meet it, 
and that he would be back the next evening at the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 85 


same hour to give them the result of his reflections. 
He then took his hat and departed. 

The next evening, as might have been expected, 
the house was not large enough for the audience, for 
all who were present on the previous evening spread 
abroad the appointment, and thus excited the curios- 
ity of the entire community ; nor did the meeting close 
until curiosity yielded to a deeper feeling, and the 
truth achieved a victory. 

In such labors as these the months went by until 
August, the appointed time for the meeting of the 
Association, which this year met at Warren, and 
proved to be a most interesting and joyful occasion. 
For years before the attendance had not been large, 
and chilling reports of the want of success had sad- 
dened the hearts of its members. The increase of 
numbers by conversion scarcely replaced the ravages 
by death and vacancies by reason of apostasy and 
exclusion; but now a great and delightful change had 
taken place—the number of converts far exceeded 
that of the entire membership of the Association at 
the beginning of the year when Scott entered upon 
his labors; some of the churches had doubled their 
numbers; new churches had been formed; the con- 
verts were distinguished by unusual zeal and activ- 
ity, and many of them were present to add to the glad- 
ness which prevailed and to partake of the joy. Not 
far from one thousand new converts had been made, 
and a new life had been infused into the churches, 
and, as a consequence, great joy prevailed, and the 
routine of business for a season gave way to mutual 
congratulations on the success of the gospel, to prayer 
and praise. 


86 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Among the converts were those from different 
religious bodies, and also several preachers who had 
abandoned their various creeds, and it now became a 
serious question whether all those various elements 
could be harmonized and unite upon the common 
basis of the Word of God. 

It was well known that Aylette Raines, who had 
heretofore been a zealous Universalist, still retained 
his opinions with regard to the final restoration of the 
entire race to the favor of God, and it was feared that 
it would work injuriously were he not required to 
make a public recantation of the obnoxious senti- 
ments, and quite a number of the members of the 
Association were unwilling to receive him unless he 
should do so. 

When the case of Raines was formally brought 
before the Association, the Campbells—father and 
son—both advocated his reception as a Christian 
brother; the former, on the ground that Mr. Raines’ 
Restorationism, like his own Calvinism, was a reli- 
gious speculation or theory; the latter, on the ground 
that Mr. Raines’ view on the final restoration of the 
wicked, was merely an opinion or inference which was 
nowhere set forth in the Word of God, and insisted 
that unity in matters of faith, plainly taught in the 
Scriptures, was necessary, and not perfect agreement 
in matters of mere opinion concerning which they 
were silent. All he thought to be necessary in the 
matter was for Mr. Raines to preach the gospel as it 
was delivered to us by the apostles, and retain his 
opinions on the subject in question as private prop- 
erty, and not attempt to make them binding upon 
others. Were he to pursue this course he did not 
doubt but that the truth would soon deliver him from 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT _ 87 


his philosophy, by making him see that, to base sal- 
vation on acceptance of the gospel offer was the safer 
ground, and that his theory would be useless to all 
that did so. 

With the sentiments advanced by these brethren, 
Walter Scott, who had struggled long and hard with 
difficulties growing out of his own early religious 
education, perfectly agreed, as matters derived from 
creed and catechism, once held dear, had faded from 
his own mind under the increasing light of truth, so 
he doubted not it would be with Mr. Raines, his son 
in the gospel. 

As views and opinions cherished for years can not 
be renounced by an effort of the will, Mr. Raines 
could not in a moment abjure what he had long cher- 
ished, yet he cheerfully pledged himself to preach 
nothing beyond what he found clearly set forth in the 
Word of God, and, as he had for some time preached 
no doubtful matters or opinions, but the gospel in its 
ancient simplicity, by a large majority he was ac- 
cepted as a Christian brother. This course demon- 
strated the feasibility of Christian union, on the broad 
ground of agreement with regard to matters univer- 
sally held to be clearly revealed, and mutual toleration 
in regard to those things for which there was no 
scriptural authority. 

The principle thus settled was one of immense im- 
portance and of great practical value, as it led to the 
abandonment of all the human elements in the con- 
flicting party creeds, and brought thousands together 
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and 
united and harmonized them as the truth only can. 

The result in the case of Mr. Raines was such as 
was foreseen, and in about two years after he thus 


88 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


wrote to Mr. Campbell in regard to the change which 
had taken place: 


‘*T wish to inform you that my ‘restorationist’ sentiments 
have been slowly and imperceptibly erased from my mind by 
the ministry of Paul and Peter, and some other illustrious 
preachers, with whose discourses and writings, I need not tell 
you, you seem to be intimately acquainted. After my im- 
mersion I brought my mind, as much as I possibly could, like 
a blank surface, to the ministry of the New Institution, and 
by this means, I think, many characters of truth have been 
imprinted in my mind which did not formerly exist there. * * * 
I hope, during the remainder of my days, to devote my 
energies, not to the building up of sectarian systems, but to 
the teaching of the Word.’’ 


This purpose Mr. Raines has fully accomplished in 
a faithful and most efficient ministry of more than 
forty years, and recently he thus refers to the cher- 
ished remembrance of “the great kindness and mag- 
nanimity with which,” says he, “the Campbells and 
Walter Scott treated me after my baptism, and before 
I was convinced of the erroneousness of my restor- 
ationist philosophy. They used to say to me: ‘It is 
a mere philosophy, like Calvinism and Arminianism, 
and no part of the gospel.’ They made these isms 
of but little value, and therefore not worth contend- 
ing for, and they did not put themselves in conflict 
with my philosophy, but rather urged me to preach 
the gospel in matter and form as did the apostles. 
This all appeared to me to be reasonable, and I did 
it, and one of the consequences was, that the phil- 
osophy within me became extinct, having no longer 
the coals of contention by which to warm, or the 


crumbs of sectarian righteousness upon which to 
feed.” | 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 89 


The result of Elder Scott’s labors did not leave the 
matter of his re-appointment in the least doubtful. 
The judgment of all was that he should be continued 
in the position for which he had shown such admirable 
fitness. ‘The work, however, had become too great 
for the labors of any one man, and he therefore re- 
quested that a helper should be appointed for the suc- 
ceeding year, and, as William Hayden had shown 
great zeal and ability for some months past, he asked 
that he should be his companion in toil. This pro- 
posal met with general approval, and was followed by 
some discussion as to the bounds of their labors, some 
thinking that they should be confined within the 
bounds of the Association, and others, that the evan- 
gelists should be free to go wherever a favorable open- 
ing should present itself. 

Scott’s spirit was stirred within him, and with that 
grace and earnestness by which he was distinguished, 
he rose and said: “Brethren, give me my Bible, my 
head, and Bro. William Hayden, and we will go forth 
and convert the world!” A minister rose and moved 
that his request be granted, and the motion was 
passed with enthusiasm, and forth they went into a 
field white for the harvest, ready for the reaper’s 
gathering hand. Well and faithfully did they toil, 
rich and abundant were the sheaves which rewarded 
their labors; nor shall they be forgotten when the 
Lord of the harvest shall come! 


CHAPTER XIII 


HE year 1829 was very fruitful in results; 

wherever Scott and Hayden went large crowds 
assembled, and hundreds yielded to the truth and were 
gathered into the fold. Among the places visited 
were Palmyra, Deerfield, Windham, Mantua, Brace- 
ville, Bazetta, and, indeed, nearly every place of im- 
portance on the Reserve. During this, the first year 
of the joint labors of himself and William Hayden, 
an incident of great interest to Bro. Scott, and one 
deeply and intimately associated with the interests 
and success of the work in which he was engaged, 
occurred. 


The report of Scott and Hayden to the Association 
of their labors during the year was highly encourag- 
ing; and, as the work was constantly growing, and 
demands for preaching far above their ability to 
meet, Adamson Bentley and Marcus Bosworth were 
appointed to aid in the work. The latter had been 
led into the truth by hearing Scott at Braceville in 
1827 or 1828, and proved to be a very successful 
preacher. He was a man of true piety and deep feel- 
ing; the condition of lost sinners and the love of the 
Savior were themes that he could seldom touch with- 
out weeping, and, as a natural consequence, his un- 
affected tenderness would move his audience to tears. 
Of Elder Bentley we have already spoken at length 
as a pure man and an able minister, and certainly, in 
modern times, no four men ever produced such a 
revolution in public sentiment as did these in the 
field of their labors. 


90 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 91 


The year passed by and the Association met, as it 
proved, for the last time as an ecclesiastical body, at 
Austintown. Over one thousand converts were re- 
ported; a widespread and earnest religious interest 
had been awakened; many of the new converts, full 
of love and zeal, were present, and all were full of 
joy and hope. Several Associations, especially those 
of Redstone and Beaver, had pursued a very arbitrary 
course, with regard to churches and individuals who 
could not accept fully all that was required by the 
Creed and Articles of Faith; and the members of the 
Mahoning Association, fearing that such bodies might 
work much evil, brought up the question as to the 
scripturality of such organizations. Mr. Campbell 
thought such meetings under proper limitations might 
be useful, although opposed to them as church tribu- 
nals, and as the churches of which the Mahoning 
Association was composed had been enlightened so 
far as to lay aside all human standards of faith and 
practice, he thought they were in no such danger as 
those who still retained them. A large majority, 
however, were opposed to the continuance of the As- 
sociation; so much tyranny had _ been exercised 
recently by bodies bearing that name, that it was felt 
necessary to have some decisive action on the matter. 
John Henry, who had been among the first to enter 
the ranks of reform, and was already quite influential, 
moved “that the Mahoning Association, as an ad- 
visory council, or an ecclesiastical tribunal, should 
cease to exist.” This was in accordance with the 
general feeling, but Mr. Campbell thinking the course 
proposed too precipitate, was on the point of rising 
to oppose the motion, when Walter Scott, seeing the 
strong current in favor of it, went up to him, and, 


92 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


placing a hand on each of his shoulders, begged him 
not to oppose the motion. He yielded; the motion 
passed unanimously; and it was then determined that, 
in the place of the Association, there should be an an- 
nual meeting for praise and worship, and to hear 
reports from laborers in the field of the progress of 
the good work. The first of these meetings was held 
at New Lisbon in the following year, and proved to 
be both pleasant and profitable, and they still continue 
with a like result. 

The action taken at Austintown may be regarded 
as the formal separation from the Baptists; up to this 
time the Association was a Baptist body, and the 
members of it Baptists, although many of their pecu- 
liarities had been abandoned in consequence of a bet- 
ter understanding of the Scriptures. Those Baptists 
who had embraced the new views, together with the 
new converts made, were called Campbellites, and by 
many Scottites; but after the dissolution of the Asso- 
ciation which was really brought about by the efforts 
of Scott, they were called Disciples. 

The wisdom of the course pursued in this has been 
questioned by some since then; who thought, no doubt, 
that it would have been better to have remained with 
the Baptists, and leavened that body with their views; 
but Scott ever regarded it as the wisest course, and 
assumed whatever responsibility there might be in the 
matter, claiming that it was at his instance that John 
Henry introduced the motion, and that his own per- 
sonal appeal to Alexander Campbell, prevented him 
from using his influence in opposition to the action, 
which really made those who had accepted the primi- 
tive gospel a new and distinct people. 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 93 


This was one of the marked eras in Elder Scott’s 
career. His first step was to fix upon the divinity of 
Christ as the central and controlling thought of the 
New Testament, and which he afterwards demon- 
strated and illustrated with a strength and felicity that 
has never been surpassed. Next, he arranged the 
elements of the gospel in the simple and natural order 
of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Remission of Sins, 
and Gift of the Holy Spirit; then made Baptism the 
practical acceptance of the gospel on the part of the 
penitent believer, as well as the pledge or assurance 
of pardon on the part of its author; and in the course 
pursued at the last meeting of the Association at 
Austintown, freed the Disciples from the last vestige 
of human authority, and placed them under Christ, 
with his Word for their guide. In this we see one of 
the most remarkable traits of Elder Scott’s character, 
namely, his inflexibility of purpose. In minor matters 
affecting only some passing interest he often seemed 
wavering and weak of purpose, but in matters involv- 
ing the truth of God, the salvation of the sinner, or 
the perfection of the saint, he knew not what it was 
to yield his convictions, but pressed on to his purpose 
with a determination and perseverance that has seldom 
been equaled. One who knew him well—the amiable 
Challen—thus notices this peculiarity, to which the at- 
tention of the reader has been directed: “In some 
things he was a perfect child, and again there was a 
loftiness and grandeur about him that struck the be- 
holder with awe. He had, with a high-strung nervous 
temperament, as much moral courage as any man I] 
have ever known; and, therefore, he often did what 
other men would not dare to do, and was rarely de- 
feated or successfully baffled in his purposes. He had 


94. LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


in him the spirit of the ancient prophets, and felt as 
if he had some great work to do in these latter times.” 

Never was man more thoroughly absorbed in his 
work than he at this period of his history; stimulated 
alike by wonderful success as well as by bitter and 
unrelenting opposition, he at times seemed almost 
transported to the heaven to which he was pointing 
his hearers. Not long since, the writer met an able 
and useful preacher, and asked him if he had ever 
seen and heard Walter Scott: with a shade of sadness 
in his manner, he said, “Yes.” “What did you think 
of him?” I pursued. ‘‘Ah,” said he, “for one hour 
and a half, I was nearer heaven than ever before or 
since.” 

R. R. Sloan, who was present at the time, relates 
the following: “Walter Scott, about 1829 or 1830, 
paid a visit to Western Virginia, and on one occa- 
sion preached in the woods between Wellsburg and 
Wheeling; the audience was large, the preacher more 
than usually animated by his theme; near him sat 
Alexander Campbell, usually calm and self-contained, 
but in this case more fully under the influence of the 
preacher’s eloquence than he had ever been of mortal 
man before; his eye flashed and his face glowed as 
he heard him unfold the glories of redemption, the 
dignity and compassion of its author, and the honors 
that awaited those who would submit to his reign, 
until so filled with rapture and an admiration, not of 
the speaker, but of him who was his theme, that he 
cried out, ‘Glory to God in the highest,’ as the only 
way to relieve the intensity of his joy.” Mr. Camp- 
bell was naturally not very demonstrative, and this 
was perhaps the only case in which his feelings so 
completely carried him away. 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 95 


Early in the next year, 1831, Elder Scott returned 
to Pittsburg, and, soon after his arrival there, death, 
for the first time, entered into his family and bore 
one of the little flock—now five in number—away. 
This was his fourth child, and second daughter, Sarah 
Jane, then in her fourth year; her loss was a great 
grief to her father, who was passionately fond of his 
children; but he was consoled by the thought that 
she was in the keeping of him who, when on earth, 
loved and blessed little children, and, though now 
seated on his throne of glory, loves them still. 

In May of the same year he visited Cincinnati for 
the first time, and remained there three months, 
preaching to the congregation which up to that time 
had enjoyed the labors of Elder James Challen, under 
whose ministry it had greatly prospered. Although 
at this time in the prime of life, Elder Scott, in con- 
sequence of his severe and unremitting labors for the 
previous four years, almost broke down, being greatly 
afflicted with dyspepsia and its attendant, great depres- 
sion of spirits. His pulpit efforts during his stay were 
very unequal and generally far below those with 
which he had stirred the multitudes all over the West- 
ern Reserve; the fame of these efforts had preceded 
him, and he failed in a great measure to meet the ex- 
pectations which had been awakened; he lacked, too, 
the inspiration of the presence and songs of the hun- 
dreds of converts that were often at his meetings on 
the Reserve, and audiences which often swelled to 
thousands, and more than all, the success which here- 
tofore had attended his labors. Sometimes, when but 
few were present, he would give a discourse of start- 
ling and overwhelming power. This would lead those 
who were present to use such efforts as would bring 


O6 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


the elite of the city to hear him, but, on such occa- 
sions, greatly to the mortification of those who had 
exerted themselves to get such an audience together, 
he would disappoint expectation, or wholly fail to do 
justice to himself or subject. Strange, however, as it 
may seem, these failures did not seem greatly to af- 
fect him. On one occasion an Elder of the church 
said to him, ‘How is it, Bro. Scott, that when we 
don’t expect anything from you, you go beyond your- 
self, but when our hopes and wishes are the highest, 
you fall so low?” “Oh,” said he, “I don’t know how 
it happens, but I feel that if I can not get it out of 
me at times, it is in me nevertheless.”’ And this per- 
fect consciousness of power seemed to satisfy him. 
Being aware that the state of his health rendered 
his public ministrations quite variable, he determined 
to speak to the public through the medium of the 
press, knowing that in this way he could render per- 
manently useful the great thoughts by which his heart 
was stirred, but which, when before an audience he 
could not always utter. Accordingly, he began the 
publication of his renowned monthly, the “Evangelist.” 
in which was discussed and settled many of the reli- 
gious questions of the day; many of the essays which 
appeared in its pages were republished, not only in 
this country, but also in the old world; and few writ- 
ers have had the satisfaction of seeing their views so 
widely spread and so generally adopted as did he. 
Soon after the issue of his first number of the 
“Evangelist,” the celebrated socialist, philosopher, and 
skeptic, Robert Dale Owen, visited Cincinnati, and 
delivered two lectures, both of which Mr. Scott at- 
tended, and though he had but a few hours in which 
to prepare a reply to the carefully prepared addresses 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 97 


of Mr. Owen; he succeeded not only in rebuking his 
scoffs and sneers, but in a most masterly manner 
turned the tables upon him by directing his own argu- 
ments against himself. Mr. Campbell, but a short 
time before, had met Mr. Owen, Sen., in public de- 
bate, with signal success, and Mr. Scott now met 
the son, not, it is true, in a long-contested battle like 
that to which we have alluded, but it was, neverthe- 
less, a short and brilliant passage at arms, in which 
the Knight of Unbelief and Unreason went down at 
the first onset under the well-directed lance of the 
Red Cross Knight. 


CHAPTER XIV 


OT long after his removal to Cincinnati, Mr. 
Scott made another change to Carthage, about 
eight miles north of the city, where he remained for 
about thirteen years. He visited this village several 
times before his removal, and the success which at- 
tended his labors, doubtless, had much to do with 
making it his home. Although pleasantly situated, 
there was little about Carthage to make it agreeable 
as a residence; all the vices of the country village of 
forty or fifty years ago flourished there; drunkenness, 
profanity, idleness, and neglect of the public and pri- 
vate duties of religion were common, and the store 
and the groggery were the chief places of resort. 
Fishing and hunting were common on Sunday, as well 
as coarse jesting and unseemly merriment among 
those within the tavern or under the trees that shaded 
its door. The single redeeming feature was a Sun- 
day school, with which was connected an incident of 
interest that took place on Scott’s first visit. 


In one of the classes was a bright girl of about 
thirteen years of age, who, with others, had to find 
an answer to the question “What shall I do to be 
saved?” In searching the Bible she fell upon the 
case of the Jews on Pentecost, who, when pricked to 
the heart by the preaching of the gospel by Peter, 
cried out, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” 
The answer given by the apostle to this inquiry seemed 
to this child the proper reply to the question to be 
answered at the Sunday school. The day came, the 
class was questioned, but none save she had any an- 
swer ready, and she, with a feeling of childish tri- 


98 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT | 99 


umph, repeated the answer of the apostle: “Repent, 
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Instead of a 
smile and words of approval from her teacher, she 
saw, from her cold manner and averted look, that in 
some way she had failed to give a satisfactory answer, 
and in her disappointment she covered her face with 
her hands and wept. Soon the lesson was over, and 
the superintendent began to ask questions, and, smiling 
through her tears, she thought she yet might be able 
to give the answer, and find the approval from him 
which she had, for some reason, failed to gain from 
her own teacher ; and, sure enough, from his lips came 
the question, “What must a man do to be saved?” 
All were silent, and the time for her triumph had 
come; she rose and read the words of Scripture again, 
and again was doomed to disappointment ; the superin- 
tendent gave a cold, unsympathizing look and turned 
away; and again the poor child wept, and wondered 
why her answer was not approved. 

Just after this occurrence, Elder Scott preached in 
the village schoolhouse, and the little Sunday school 
scholar was among his hearers; to her surprise and 
delight he took for his text the very passage she had 
read in Sunday school, and which had been so coldly 
received, and proposed to show from it how the sin- 
ner must be saved. As he proceeded, she found that 
the strange preacher regarded the passage as she did, 
and was highly elated, and yet she could not but won- 
der why the passage should have produced such cold 
and averted looks, as it had done at the Sunday school, 
when there it was in the Bible, and the preacher said 
that it meant what it said. At the close of the dis- 


100 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


course he announced that he would return and preach 
again in four weeks; he did so, but he preached this 
time, not in the schoolhouse, but in a barn; the audi- 
ence in the barn was greater than it had been in the 
schoolhouse, and among his hearers, more interested 
than ever, was the little Sunday school girl. The 
truth, as it came from his lips, was so sweet and 
simple, and, withal, so much like her Bible, that when 
he urged his hearers to follow its teachings implicitly, 
she timidly arose, and, approaching the preacher, ex- 
pressed her wish to be baptized. He asked her several 
questions which were answered with an intelligence 
beyond her years, and, feeling that she understood 
her duty, promised to baptize her at the close of the 
meeting. The meek spirit of obedience manifested 
by the child aroused him to press the claims of the 
gospel upon those of riper years, and six men arose 
and followed the example set by the sweet child, and 
with her were baptized on confession of their faith 
in the Lord Jesus. 

These proved to be the first fruits of a great harvest 
that was soon gathered; many of the most influential 
people in the vicinity heard and obeyed the glad gos- 
pel; the reformation spread through the whole com- 
munity, and Carthage soon became as famous for tem- 
perance, zeal, and piety, as it had formerly been for 
their opposites. 

Among the converts was one who had long held 
in the village an unenviable notoriety—a poor fellow, 
who was regarded as the most hopeless of an exceed- 
ingly irreligious and immoral population. He was a 
clever, dissipated good-for-nothing; the chief actor 
in every scene of fun, frolic, or mischief; so much 
so, that he has been thought worthy of a sketch at 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 101 


the hands of a fine word-painter, who pictures him 
to his readers as follows, under the name of Parker, 
and in connection with it gives a sketch of Elder Scott, 
then in his prime, under the name of Philip. 


‘<Tf there was a cock-fight or a man-fight on the tapis, 
Parker was sure to be there, and took always an active 
part; and in the absence of one of the pugilists of the 
genus homo, he was ready to try his hand. And at a foot- 
race, or a donkey-race, or a quarter-nag, he was regarded 
as one of the most important personages in the village. And 
in the frequent routs and balls, which, in the winter season, 
were deemed indispensable to the rising generation, Parker 
was the chief actor. Or if a hen-roost was to be disturbed, 
or an old gobbler was to be uncrowned, or any other petty 
mischief to be done, he might be fully depended on. No 
mad-cap leader, even of a coterie of college lads, by acclama- 
tion, was ever admitted to this honor with readier will than 
Parker, and he was particularly proud of his ‘bad eminence.’ 
He could take a hand at any thing; he was good at a joke, 
could tell as long yarns as any of his neighbors, could set 
the ‘table in a roar,’ and could drink as much stone-fence 
as any other lover of this kind of geology. He was a good- 
natured, waggish, witty, ignorant, knowing, rampant fellow, 
the terror of all the good women and little children of the 
neighborhood, and the scapegoat of all the sins of the vil- 
lagers. But Parker was not without his good points and 
generous impulses. If any of his companions were in distress 
he was ready to help him; or sick, to nurse him; or dead, 
to lay him out, and make arrangements for the funeral; and 
if he was not the chief mourner, he, at least, was the grave- 
digger. 

‘¢Tt is worthy of remark that, even among the worst speci- 
mens of humanity there are some good points; none are sunk 
so low but that they might sink lower—none 80 depraved but 
that they might receive a still darker hue. The seeds of 
paradise still slumber in the clods, and the sunshine and the 
moisture will sometimes start them into a new life. It was 
thus with Parker; bad as he was he might have been worse. 


102 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘‘Tf was announced in the village in which Parker lived, 
that a strange preacher was soon to be there, and would hold 
a series of meetings, such as are common in the West, and 
which have resulted often in so much good in dissipating the 
worldliness which surrounds the people, and diffusing a purer, 
healthier atmosphere favorable to their spiritual improvement 
and growth. The meeting was held in an old brick school- 
house, dirty and dark; and when the interest increased, and 
the congregation became too large to be accommodated, it was 
moved to a barn fragrant with the odor of the new-mown hay. 


‘<The preacher was a Scotchman, in the prime of life, about 
five feet seven inches high, with a thin face, high cheek 
bones, a large, projecting nose, and finely chiseled upper lip, 
and an eye of the eagle—sleepy when at rest, but filled with 
the beams of the sun when awakened. His hair was black 
as the wing of the raven, and as glossy, which hung rather 
carelessly upon his ample brow, revealing to the eye a fore- 
head of singular beauty, on which wit and benevolence, reason 
and invention, sat enthroned. In all respects Philip, for that 
is the name we choose to call him, was a great man. The 
writer has often heard him, and he can say that, at times, for 
the originality of his conceptions, the richness of his language, 
the variety of his thoughts, the sublimity of his imagery, and 
the lofty reach of his oratory, he has seldom or ever known ° 
him, surpassed. He was not always equal to himself, but if he 
failed at any time—and who does not—he was consoled with 
the thought that the fire still burned deep in the Aitna of 
his mind, even though the smoke was not seen, or the flames 
did not shoot up portentously to the darkened heavens, or the 
lava pour from his lips. We hope that the reader will not 
think this a mere fancy sketch. It is drawn from life, though 
not to the life; for we regret that the preacher had not some 
one better able to draw out more fully the lineaments of his 
character. He was a speaker combining much of the genius 
of Edward Irving, with the Titan tread of Robert Hall, and 
the graphic powers of Sir Walter Scott; and sometimes, at 
the close of an address, he would give a burst of oratory, 
scattering gems as if the air was filled with the fragments of 
a globe of crystals, or as if the sun had looked out from a 
cloud, still shedding its rain-drops upon the moistened earth; 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 103 


he would then lift his audience into a sweet surprise, captivat- 
ing every sense by the mellowness of his voice, the gentle grace 
of his motions, the scintillations of his wit, and the grandeur 
of his imagery. ; 

‘But we will not forget Parker, for the time had come 
when this uproarious and fun-loving hero of my story was 
about to feel the keen arrows of conviction, and the sub- 
duing influence of the gospel of Christ, at the meeting of 
which we have spoken. The preacher was almost wholly un- 
known to the community; a few had seen him, perhaps heard 
him. He had gathered laurels, however, on other fields, and 
he was now about to try his powers upon the little village of 
Carthage, but he knew that what had conquered such large 
masses to the truth elsewhere would not fail by the help of 
the Lord, to do something here, and he commenced his labors. 

‘<We know not what impressions his first efforts had upon 
the population, or what were the promises of success, but 
the results were glorious. The village was converted, and the 
gospel sounded abroad in the neighborhood; and the fruit of 
his labors may be seen to this day. The whole population was 
leavened with the doctrine of eternal life, and the beautiful 
chapel, which still stands in the village, and the willing wor- 
shipers which crowd its gates, attest the wonders which he 
wrought, and the strength of the principles he advocated. 
Parker was enrolled among the saved. What induced him to 
attend the meeting we know not; perhaps mere curiosity, the 
novelty of the occasion, the reputed eloquence of the preacher, 
the love of excitement, or the number of converts which were 
being made. He took his seat far back in the crowded room; 
he listened as he had never done before; the recollections of 
his past misspent life came up before him; his conscience was 
quickened and enlightened; the truth penetrated like a sword 
into the depths of his heart; he saw his lost, he felt his un- 
done condition, and welcomed the means of his recovery. 

‘<The very first discourse stripped him of his armor, and 
left him shivering as a guilty culprit. He was ready to yield 
at once, but prudence, or, perhaps, shame forbade that he 
should publicly acknowledge it. But there was seen at home 
that night, at the early approach to his door, and the sober 
cast of his countenance, that some strange influences were at 


104 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


work upon him; and his wife, though she discovered the 
change, and probably knew the cause, and inwardly delighted 
in it, did not seem to notice it. The next morning Parker 
was up betimes, and busied himself about the house, and the 
garden and wood-pile. He was particularly kind and gracious 
in his whole demeanor; and it was seen, with heartfelt satis- 
faction, that he did not visit that morning the tap-room to 
get his accustomed dram—a thing unknown in the memory of 
the family. He did not associate during the day with his old 
companions, nor visit his favorite haunts, but was thoughtful, 
and serious, and taciturn. Unfortunatey for him, he could not 
read, or he might have spent the day less tediously. His 
thoughts were busy until night with the new things he had 
heard; and the hidden principles of the gospel were struggling 
with the perverted affections of his soul, and achieving a 
victory over his wicked habits. 


‘‘Night came; again might you have seen the villagers, 
well-clad, pouring out from their houses—the rich and the 
poor—to the place of meeting. And from the country car- 
riages and wagons, full to repletion, were gathering together, 
as at some great festival. Parker was in the crowd, and took 
his seat again at the far end of the house, and heard the 
discourse with marked attention, and, at the close of the 
sermon, he made his way through the dense mass, and stood 
before the preacher, who looked upon him with surprise and 
astonishment. No one was prepared for such an event, and 
as he passed through the congregation they gave way with 
singular promptitude to the ‘publican and sinner.’ If I recol- 
lect right, there were only two of the brethren willing to 
receive him, but the prejudices of the congregation were al- 
layed by the cordiality with which he was received by them, 
and he was soon admitted among the converts, and proved to 
be an active, zealous, and faithful member. 


‘‘Many are the anecdotes told of him after his conversion, 
some of which are quite characteristic. He used to seek out 
his old companions in folly and crime, and pursue them to 
their miserable haunts, and urge them to reform, and become 
men. ‘See,’ said he, ‘what Christianity has done for me; 
I was as great a sinner as any of you; a drunkard, a swearer, 
a gambler; poor, miserable, and wretched; but now I am 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 105 


redeemed from my former ways and have become a man. I 
have learned to read’—his wife taught him—‘I have plenty 
of work, and can feed and clothe my family decently, and 
have not only a good conscience and a blessed hope, but the 
best of society and the best of cheer. Try the value of the 
gospel. It is good for everything—having promise of the life 
that now is, and also of that which is to come.’ And his 
labor in this new field was not in vain. Once, after his con- 
version, he went out to the harvest-field—for he was a famous 
worker—and his old friends, who were waiting for his apostasy, 
and anxious for it, had supplied themselves with the ac- 
customed quantity of the ‘fire-water’; seeing Parker approach- 
ing, with a large jug swinging on his arm, they began to wink 
and chuckle among themselves, supposing that the temptation 
of the harvest-field on a hot day would be too strong for 
his new temperance habits. When he came nigh them, they 
hailed his approach, and each eyed with special pleasure his 
jug, and asked to share at once its contents, supposing it filled 
with the choicest old Monongahela. ‘I never have refused the 
eall,’? said Parker; ‘it is at your service; come,’ said he, ‘and 
drink; but you must take it as I do, unmixed,’ and by the 
word of mouth—‘ drink, gentlemen.’ The first who took hold 
of the jug drank a large draught, but soon turned away from 
it as a ‘guilty thing.’ It was buttermilk!’’ 


The cases just mentioned serve to show the ver- 
satility of Elder Scott’s talent in thus bringing the 
gospel to the comprehension of a little child, and 
making its power to be felt by poor ignorant Parker, 
enslaved by his appetites and steeped in sin; and, 
oh! how tenderly he cared for them, and bore them 
up before the throne in earnest prayer; nor did they 
forget him and the lessons he taught. Parker was a 
faithful Christian man when last heard from, and the 
little girl, now an aged Christian matron, after the 
lapse of nearly half a century, speaks tenderly of him 
who so lovingly and earnestly pointed her to the Lamb 
of God. 


106 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


As intimated in the extract quoted, a large and 
prosperous church was established, the best families 
in the community were reached, and many have gone 
out from Carthage to bless other localities in the 
distant West. After the meeting above mentioned, 
the church, though happy and peaceful, did not grow 
as rapidly as Elder Scott desired; he had been ac- 
customed for some years before to preach at a great 
many places in the course of a year, and scarcely a 
week passed without some being brought to Christ 
through his labors; and though he was doing a good 
work in teaching the Disciples who had been gath- 
ered in Carthage, he felt the need of the stimulus of 
success to which he had been so long accustomed. 
To arouse the public mind, and secure the success so 
much desired, it was resolved, after a free consulta- 
tion with the church, to have a meeting to continue 
for several days in succession, to which the ablest min- 
isters among the Disciples were to be invited. L. H. 
Jameson, who was present, gives the following ac- 
count of the meeting: 

‘*Tt was appointed to take place in September. It was 
published in the ‘Evangelist,’ and when the time came, there 
met John T. Johnson and Benjamin Finnell, from Kentucky, 
John O’Kane and L. H. Jameson, from Indiana, B. U. Wat- 
kins, and several others, from Ohio, whose names are not 
remembered now. Preaching was held in the grove during 
the day, and in the big school-house at night. Meetings 
were held three times a day. The preaching was by Johnson 
and O’Kane, the exhortations and singing by the young men 
and church. Bro. Scott presided over the movement, but took 
no very active part. The crowds were large, but the people 
seemed to be stupefied with surprise at what they saw and 
heard. There seemed to be no prospect for any fruit. John- 
son preached at 10 A.M. in the grove; Ben. Finnell at 3 P.M., 
same place, but without results, The woods were literally 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 107 


full of people. On Lord’s day night, O’Kane preached in 
the school-house to a great crowd in-doors and out. Invita- 
tions were given, songs were sung, and earnest exhortations 
were offered, but not a soul moved. Bro. Scott then quietly 
arose and began to speak about as follows: ‘My friends 
and dearly beloved, I have been living among you, and try- 
ing to preach the gospel to you, for sometime past. I have 
observed that, for some reason or other, my humble ministra- 
tions of the glorious gospel of Christ had ceased to be effec- 
tive. I felt unable to divine the reason. It occurred to me, 
that it might be for the reason that you had some objections 
to the man. Under this impression, I determined to get out 
of the way; and so we appointed this meeting. We sent for 
faithful men to come and assist us. They have come, and 
they have preached and exhorted; they have sung and prayed, 
and entreated with tears, and all to no purpose. Not one of 
you has been moved. I have taken no part in the matter of 
preaching or exhorting myself, simply for the reason that 
I did not intend to be in the way. But now, after all that 
has been said and done, I have come to this conclusion, that 
your stupid indifference is not owing to any objections you 
have to me, nor yet to the men who have been laboring 
before you, but solely to your own cruel hard-heartedness. 
I am perfectly astonished at you! I am confounded! I 
don’t know what to make of you! What can I say to you 
after all that has been said by these dear brethren? Are 
you not ashamed of yourselves? to sit here from day to day, 
and from night to night, listening to such reasonings, to 
such appeals, without being moved. What can be the matter 
with you? Is it because you are destitute of common intel- 
ligence? Or is it because you are utterly careless with regard 
to your own eternal interests? Have you no fear of the High 
and Lofty One who inhabits eternity? Are you not afraid 
that Jehovah may turn upon you in his wrath, and say, as he 
did to Israel of old: ‘‘If I lift up my hand to heaven, and 
say I live forever! If I whet my glittering sword, and my 
hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine 
enemies, and will reward them that hate me.’’ And, OH, MY 
FRIENDS, who will be able to bear the lighting down of his 
arm? Are you disposed to defy the Omnipotent to arms? 


108 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


To engage in fearful and unequal war with the Eternal? 
To hurl yourselves against the bosses of Jehovah’s buckler, 
and so to meet certain and eternal overthrow? He calls in 
mercy tonight; how can you dare to refuse? He stretches 
out his hand; how can you disregard him? Are you not 
afraid to trifle with his grace? Are you not afraid that he 
will break forth upon you like a lion, and rend you to pieces? 
Do you not fear lest he might come suddenly forth out of 
his place and cut you asunder, and appoint you your portion 
with hypocrites and unbelievers? Oh, my friends, for God’s 
sake, and for your own soul’s salvation sake, be persuaded, 
be constrained, by the love of Christ, to be reconciled. to 
God. Is it so, oh, my neighbors and friends, that the grace 
of God, and the love of Christ, all the sacrifices of Divine 
mercy, in your behalf, are to be in vain? Can you consent 
to trample the heart’s blood of Jesus under foot? Can you 
deliberately determine to do despite to the Spirit of Grace? 
Can you consent to fill the very heavens with lamentations, 
rather than joy on your account? ‘‘As I live, saith the 
Lord, I delight not in the death of the sinner, but rather 
that he would turn and live!’’ Turn you! turn you! Oh, 
my friendes, for why will you die? The Father calls; the 
Son calls; the Spirit and the Bride call. Say, my friends, 
will you come? Brethren, we will afford these poor sinners 
one more opportunity before we part. Surely some of them 
will be constrained to obey. Sing, brethren!’ 


‘‘The effect of this appeal was wonderful. The entire 
audience was astir. The first notes of the song were scarcely 
uttered before some of the best citizens of the place pre- 
sented themselves to make the confession. The brethren, who 
thought, while the speech was being delivered, that Bro. Scott 
was ruining every thing, that the people would be excited to 
madness against him, were all taken aback. From being 
crouched down in their seats with shame and chagrin, while 
he was speaking, they were on their feet, in a moment, when 
they saw the unexpected result, singing with faces covered 
all over with smiles and moistened with tears. 

‘*Tt is now within a few months of forty years since that 
night meeting took place. Almost all that took part in it 
are in another world today. But I venture to affirm, that 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 109 


to the latest day of the life of the dead, as to the last hour 
of the life of the living who were there, Walter Scott’s 
triumph was, and will be, remembered. Never before had 
we seen 80 vividly depicted the majesty, the fearfulness, the 
glory, the love, the mercy, and the grace of the great God, 
and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Never before had sin been 
portrayed in so loathsome a garb, and those who persisted 
in it made to appear so mean. The manner of the speaker 
was all that the utterances required. Sometimes as gentle 
as an evening zephyr, in a moment a dark cloud, flaming 
with lightning, overshadowed the heavens, and the rushing 
storm was heard, leveling every thing in its course; then 
gentle, and tender, and inviting again. The speech was short, 
consequently, the transitions had to be quickly made. He 
did it, and he did it well.’’ 

The meeting was protracted for several days, and some 
thirty or forty additions made to the church. Nor was the 
feeling thus aroused a transient one, prosperity attended the 
labors of Scott, and in about two years after his first visit, 
the church which he had planted numbered two hundred souls. 


CHAPTER XV 


HE labors of Elder Scott at this period of his 

life were extremely arduous; calls for preaching 
at various points were incessant and urgent; and this 
portion of his work would have been sufficient for 
most men. In addition to this, was the preparation 
of material for his paper, the “Evangelist,” which was 
steadily growing in public favor; a constant tide of 
visitors also claimed much of his time, and every 
mail brought letters of inquiry with regard to the 
great questions to which the new movement had 
given rise. His home was a very humble one, and 
his means extremely limited, yet to all comers there 
was extended a warm and generous hospitality—a 
hospitality which the thousands who partook of it 
will never forget. The fare, it is true, was often 
humble, but the hearty welcome, which never was 
wanting, made the simplest meal a rich banquet. 

He seldom possessed any thing beyond what was 
needed for the present and pressing wants, any sur- 
plus was sure to go to those who were more needy 
than himself, and often the wants of such seemed to 
be more keenly felt than his own. More than once 
he returned home with an empty basket from the 
market, having given the money with which it was 
to have been filled to some needy one, either a friend 
or stranger, which, it mattered not, provided only 
that the need was great. Once, and once only, he 
was the possessor of two cows, but this did not long 
continue, for a poor neighbor had none, but soon 
they were on an equality, having one each; and, as a 
gift he thought should be a good one, the neighbor 


110 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT: 111 


got the best cow; but his children complained at this 
somewhat, not that he had given away a cow, but 
that he had given the one that wore the bell. 

Amid all his cares and labors he was not unmind- 
ful of the spiritual needs of his own little flock, five 
in number—four sons and one daughter—knowing 
that they would be saved or condemned as they 
obeyed or disobeyed the truth. With the feeling and 
providence of a wise man and kind father, he was 
careful to have them instructed in the truth, know- 
ing that a human being is incapable of either obey- 
ing, believing, or understanding the Scriptures unless 
pains be taken for that purpose. The course pur- 
sued in his family may be gathered from a single 
morning scene, which was not an unusual, but a cus- 
tomary one. While breakfast was in preparation, 
all the family, except those who attended to the 
victuals, including some guests that were present, 
were intensely busy in committing to memory the. 
Holy Scriptures. After breakfast, the first to quit 
the table, and run from the breakfast room to the 
parlor, was a child two years of age. The rest fol- 
lowed until the entire family were seated in the same 
apartment and here was displayed a scene as primi- 
tive, lovely, pure, and holy, as ever opened on mortal 
eyes. The family being thus assembled for religious 
instruction, at a look from his father, the eldest son, 
ten years of age, with a steady, unfaltering voice, 
began the song which the children of Israel sung 
upon the shores of deliverance, when they had by 
the mercy of God passed the perils of the Red Sea; 
“IT will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed 
gloriously ; the horse and rider hath he thrown into the 
sea; the Lord is my strength and song, and he is 


112 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


become my salvation; he is my God, and I will pre- 
pare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will 
exalt him; the Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his 
name.” Every heart was touched, when the father 
gave his son William, then six years old, a significant 
look, and the child, not the least abashed in conse- 
quence of frequent practice, began as follows: “And 
Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom, and 
became nurse to it; and the women, her neighbors, 
gave it a name, saying, a child is born to Naomi, and 
they called his name Obed; he is the father of Jesse, 
the father of David.” His daughter Emily, then eight 
years old, whose fancy was caught by what her 
brother had said, asked her father where she would 
find the story of little Obed. He answered, that 
the story was recorded in the book of Ruth, and 
added, a very pretty one it is, and, turning to the 
rest, said: “In the book of Ruth the simplicity of the 
early ages is very strikingly exhibited, and it seems 
to have been collected with other parts of the sacred 
canon of Scripture in order to supply the origin and 
pedigree of the royal family of David, of which it was 
promised that the Messiah, according to the flesh, 
should be born.” Emily then repeated, with the 
utmost accuracy, the whole of the Messiah’s lineage 
from Adam to Abraham, and thence to David, and 
thence again to Jesus, ending with the latter part of 
the first chapter of Matthew, whose gospel she and 
her brothers were then in daily lessons committing to 
memory. 

Elder B. U. Watkins, at that time a young man, 
was residing in the family for the purpose of improv- 
ing his Christian knowledge, and between him and 
Elder Scott, a singular and interesting exercise took 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT | 113 


place; this was the repeating at first in alternate 
verses, and then in alternate chapters, a large portion 
of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The recitations were 
not only accurate, but great attention was paid to 
emphasis and pronunciation, which made it far more 
impressive than a mere formal reading would have 
been. Another young minister who was present re- 
peated the fifth chapter of First Timothy, and Mrs. 
Scott added a passage from the gospel by Matthew. 
The exercise began with the song of Moses, and the 
father closed it by chanting, in rich, full tones, the 
song of the Lamb: “Worthy is the Lamb, that was 
slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing; for thou 
wast slain for us, and hast redeemed us to God by 
thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation, and hast made us to our God 
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” 
The whole family then joined in singing the hymn, 
“To, he comes with clouds descending,” after which 
thanksgivings were offered for all the favors of life 
and religion, and the family separated for the duties 
of the day. 

B. U. Watkins, to whom reference has been made, 
thus writes with regard to the course pursued while 
he was in the family: 

‘*Tt was in the spring of 1833 that I began to study the 
Bible with Walter Scott. His residence, at that time, was 
about a quarter of a mile east of the village. Neither the 
house nor its surroundings were at all romantic; but yet 
we found it pleasant—very pleasant to study the Holy 
Scriptures. It was our habit to commit to memory a chap- 
ter from the New Testament before breakfast, each select- 


ing different portions of the Scripture, which we recited at 
family worship, which came directly after eating. In this 


114 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


exercise every member of the family was expected to take. 
part. His amiable wife and the children, who were then 
but small, seldom recited a whole chapter. There was some- 
thing in this profound attention to the Bible that pleased 
me more than I can well describe. We soon began to 
commit the Scriptures systematically, paying special atten- 
tion to the larger epistles—Romans and Hebrews. After 
morning worship, it was our custom to walk out together, 
and during the walk refresh our memories with what we 
had learned in the last week or month. This was done by 
reciting from memory, and prompting each other without 
the use of any book. Sometimes we repeated verse ahout, 
sometimes one recited till his memory failed, then the other 
began where he left off, and, thus the exercise was con- 
tinued indefinitely, and on our return to the house, we 
again referred to the book if we were conscious of any 
defect of memory. In this way very large portions of the 
New Testament were committed to memory, and made very 
effectually and permanently our own. Over and above this 
memorizing, we studied together exegesis and criticism. But 
not one word, as now remembered, was said about what is 
popularly known as Theology—about the philosophy of reli- 
gion or the analogy of faith. The reason for this apparent 
oversight was very obvious to my mind. Both A. Campbell 
and Walter Scott had abjured all religious philosophy, and 
went directly to the Word of God, to hear what it would say, 
and to let simple faith supplant all human philosophy; and 
it was his custom then to submit, with the docility of a child, 
to a positive declaration of Scripture. 


‘These were pioneer days—days of great trials and 
great triumphs. Bro. Scott enjoyed the triumphs with a 
keen relish, and felt the crushing weight of pioneer priva- 
tions and trials as only such natures as his could feel. 
He had embarked his all in his plea for the primitive gos- 
pel, and at that time there was no earthly compensation 
for such labor. He was poor, very poor; while I lived 
in his family it was not at all uncommon for them to be 
almost destitute of the common necessities of life. He was 
a great believer in prayer, and just at the point of greatest 
need help always came.’’ 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 115 


And yet his life was far from being a sad one. 
Able ministers of the gospel—partners in his glorious 
toil—often called to see him, and cheer him with ac- 
counts of the success of the truth in their hands— 
Barton W. Stone, L. L. Pinkerton, Samuel Rogers, 
L H. Jameson, his beloved pupil, Dr. Richardson, 
and many other earnest workers. And with such 
company all discomforts were forgotten; far into the 
night they were often engaged upon the theme dear- 
est to their hearts, and when the time of parting 
came they mutually thanked God and took courage. 
His welcome was not reserved for the great and good 
men, such as we have named, alone—none were turned 
away; and the poorest disciple was sure of any kind- 
ness he might need that it was in the power of Scott 
to bestow. He treated all who claimed to be the dis- 
ciples of Jesus as his brethren—as his Father’s chil- 
dren; the young and the timid soon felt at ease in 
his presence, and went away strengthened and en- 
couraged. One who was a true disciple, and who, 
years ago, went to his reward, told a bosom friend 
the following incident: 


‘<When quite a young man, a year or two after I had 
heard and embraced the gospel, I determined to pay a visit 
to Ohio and Virginia, with the purpose of ‘visiting A. 
Campbell and Walter Scott, whom I regarded as the great- 
est spirits of the age. Reaching Carthage on a summer 
afternoon, I left my horse at the village inn, and directed 
my steps to the residence of Walter Scott. I found him 
on the porch reading, handed him my letter of introduction, 
after reading which he gave me a most cordial greeting and 
invited me into the house. After conversing a few minutes, 
he left the room and in a short time returned with a basin 
of water and a towel, and, in the kindest tones, said, ‘My 
young brother, permit me, in the name of the Lord, to wash 


116 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


your feet,’ and he immediately proceeded to do 80; and 
while kneeling at his task kept me engaged in conversation 
until it was accomplished. Never did I realize till then what 
a lesson of humility such an act could convey, and the im- 
pression made upon my mind has never been effaced.’’ 


He had the highest regard for the abilities and feel- 
ings of his associates in the ministry, and knew not 
what it was either to envy, or desire to outshine 
them. A fine example of this is found in his recog- 
nition of the eminent abilities and devoted labors of 
the Campbells, father and son; and of B. W. Stone, 
in one of his most brilliant essays, styled the “Para- 
ble of the Ships.” He takes the reader with him to 
a lofty peak on the sea-beat shore, and represents, 
by the various vessels which deck the blue waters, 
the different churches of ancient and modern times. 
Among these he points out “The Christian,’ “The 
Church of God,” and “The Restoration”; by the first 
of which he means the body of which Barton W. 
Stone was a prominent member; by the second, he 
intends those Independent Baptists who first laid 
aside all human creeds and strove to conform to the 
primitive model; and by the Restoration, those who, 
under the labors of himself and associates, had made 
still greater advances in the attempt to return to 
original ground. The allusion to Elder Thomas 
Campbell is particularly fine, and not more elegant 
and felicitous than true. For he, beyond all question, 
first settled upon the great principle—the seed-truth 
from which all that is valuable in the Reformation 
sprung—“That we must speak where the Scriptures 
speak, and be silent where they are silent”; or, in 
other words, make the Word of God the only rule of 
faith and practice. He, if ever man did, regarded 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT. 117 


the Word of God as the mariner does the polar star, 
and few purer lives have adorned and illustrated the 
religion of Jesus than did his. He makes a passing 
allusion at the close to himself, without which the 
sketch would have been imperfect, but it will be seen 
that he claims not a higher, nay, scarcely an equal, 
place with the rest. He asks the reader: 


‘Do you see these three ships near to shore taking in 
numerous passengers, and bearing the several names of 
‘The Christian,? ‘The Church of God,’ and ‘The Restora- 
tion’? I do. Well, then, in the first of them, viz.: ‘The 
Christian,’ you see, standing with his hand upon the helm, 
a man of patriarchal appearance, with a black coat and a 
broad-brimmed hat, do you not? I do. That, sir, is the 
man who for many years has guided with unvarying hand 
the stately vessel which you now look at, blameless, not 
self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine; no striker, 
and not given to filthy luecre; he is a lover of hospitality, 
a lover of good men; sober, just, holy, temperate; and firm 
as a STONE he holdeth fast the faithful compass in the bin- 
nacle before him. After maintaining, through a long series 
of years, the high distinction of pilot to ‘The Christian,’ 
he is now ready, as he has shown, to resign his post to 
the person to whom the Great Captain of Salvation shall 
see meet to give it in charge. May he die in the midst 
of his brethren, with the words of peace on his lips, and 
glory in his soul. 


‘¢¢The Church of God’ is a vessel of original mould and 
bottom, but differing, in the first instance, from ‘The Chris- 
tian,’ which, as originally fitted out, had more sail than 
ballast. ‘The Church of God’ had more ballast than sail, 
and so moved forward tardily till, meeting with ‘The 
Restoration,’ she hoisted an additional sail, and now the 
three ships are all along to Jerusalem in a league of peace 
and amity! But to ‘The Restoration.’ You must see, sir, 
that she is a vessel of the divinest and most peculiar mould. 
I do not refer to any display she makes, for she makes 
none; but look at the length, and strength, and sturdiness 


118 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


of her timbers! her keel and ribs are made as for eternity! 
and within her capacious walls may walk at ease, if they 
would walk in the truth, the whole world of mankind. Who 
is that apostolic-looking personage behind the binnacle, with 
heaven in his eye, and gazing full upon the northern and 
polar star? That, sir, is the man who laid her beams in 
the Bible. Mark the height and capacity of his forehead! 
the depth, and strength, and color of the eye that coucheth 
underneath; the intellect and argument developed in the 
length and weight and mobility of his cheek; the massy ear, 
and the veneration of his silvery locks that now stream to 
the wintry winds like the bright radiations of light! and 
say, whether, as he stands, he does not realize to you all 
that you have imagined of the venerable Nestor, Nestor of 
Sandy Pylos! Holy, vigilant, and indefatigable, and avoid- 
ing questions which engender strife, like a true servant of 
God, he is gentle toward all men, apt to teach, patient, in 
meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, if God, 
peradventure, will grant them repentance unto the acknowl- 
edgment of the truth, and that they may recover themselves 
out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive at his 
will. The father of believing children, and ruling well his. 
own house; a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men; his 
soul looketh forth from her clayey tenement toward heaven 
on high. He shall die the death of the righteous; his last 
end shall be his! 


‘‘And who is that with a strong hand upon the helm, 
eyeing the whole squadron of the Reformation, as if he 
would run them down? Names are odious, sir. The dis- 
tinction and priority which he there enjoys has been well 
earned. Do you see his face? There is not a straight line 
in it! and Nature, as if she had determined there should 
be none, besides giving the nasal organ an elevation truly 
Roman, has slightly inclined the whole to one side—the right 
side! The lip, too, and the azure eye, edged with the fire 
of the bird of Jove, yield in the same direction; while the 
well-developed marble forehead, and the whole frontal region, 
give forth all the marks of the depth, the extent, the variety, 
and the fervor of which he has proved himself possessed. 
Why do so many keep gazing at him from the decks of the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 119 


other vessels—‘The Presbyterian,’ ‘The Seceder,’ ‘The Infi- 
del,’ and many more? Mark, sir, the extraordinary devel- 
opment behind his ear, and inquire no more; he has run the 
prow of the ‘Restoration’ into almost every ship of any size 
in the fleet, and these groups upon the decks are poor folks 
met to deplore the disasters; and yon chasm, in the hull of 
the Regular Baptist, which you have noticed, and which the 
men aboard are tinkering at, is the hole which he hammered 
out, and at which he and his associates leaped forth. Valiant 
for the truth in the earth, and fearing nothing but God and 
evil, may he, till death, maintain, by honor and righteousness, 
the high distinction and priority which he now enjoys; and 
then, having gone, his name and his fame shall be in the mouth 
of all saints, greater than if written on the blue firmament 
with a pen of gold! better than if poured in letters of living 
gold along the sky! 

‘¢Who is that lean man behind him, with his eye devouring 
the compass in the binnacle, and whose head the Pilot would 
raise from his bosom whereon it had reclined? No names, 
sir; if he leaped from the chasm first, bearing along with 
him the flag of the Union, he is to be borne with. It is 
well his purposes are divine, and founded in truth, for you 
cannot turn him. And who are all these joyous men and 
officers aboard, crowding around the helm? These, sir, are 
all volunteers, and singing, as you hear, 


‘<The everlasting gospel has launched the deep at last: 
Behold her sails unfurled upon her towering mast! 
Her joyous crew upon the deck in loving order stand, 
Crying ‘Ho, here we go for Immanuel’s happy dando 


He especially delighted to put forward and encour- 
age young men in the ministry of the Word, and such, 
instead of being abashed and disheartened by the. 
presence of one so royally endowed with the highest 
qualities for efficiency in the pulpit, felt rather cheered 
and encouraged, knowing that his desire for success 
and usefulness was scarcely inferior to their own. 
Many of his sons in the gospel will remember this 
feature in his character: the encouragement given 


120 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


before rising to speak; in his earnest prayer for them; 
the low murmurs of approval at the best points of the 
discourse, and the warm and hearty approval at its 
close. ‘To one of these, on their way to an appoint- 
ment, where he himself was expected to preach, he 
said: ‘Now I will tell you how we must do; I will 
preach, and you must follow in an exhortation; I will 
strike at the head, and you must strike at the heart, 
and cry if you can,’ by which he did not mean, seem 
to feel even if you do not; but let your subject, and 
the condition of the lost sinners you are addressing 
so take hold of your heart, that you may feel for 
them; and thus make them feel. 


Although residing at Carthage, his labors were by 
no means confined there; many other places were 
visited, and churches already existing greatly enlarged 
and strengthened; and also many new ones estab- 
lished, in which the fruits of his labors may be seen to 
this day. In addition to the success that was attend- 
ing his own personal labors, he was greatly cheered 
by encouraging reports from other fields where the 
seed he had sown in tears was giving a rich harvest 
to the hands of those who had been his helpers at the 
beginning of the movement, when every man’s hand 
was against them; and, greater, moreover, was his 
joy to find that many of his converts were quitting 
themselves like men, and gathering multitudes into 
the fold. On the Western Reserve, especially, the 
cause was flourishing to such an extent, that preachers 
of various religious parties had almost ceased the 
work of opposition, as many from their own ranks 
had embraced, and were preaching, the faith they had 
once attempted to destroy; and the people everywhere 
gladly gave heed to the truth. 


CHAPTER XVI 


JANG this period, Elder Scott revised and repub- 
lished, in the “Evangelist,” a remarkable dis- 
course on the Holy Spirit, which is deserving of 
mention. The work of the Holy Spirit for years had 
been the subject of controversy between the Disciples 
and other religious bodies, and also among themselves, 
and one which from its very nature was extremely 
difficult to settle. It was commonly treated as a 
proper subject of philosophical inquiry, to be decided 
by reasonings with regard to the faculties and powers 
of the human mind, rather than by the express teach- 
ings of the Scriptures. The result was that, by some, 
conversion was regarded as the work of the Spirit 
without the Word; by others, as effected exclusively 
by the Word. It was, indeed, the greatest religious 
question of the day, upon which the greatest possible 
confusion prevailed. The theory of one party made 
the Word of God a dead letter, and did not scruple 
to call it such, while the opposite party laid so much 
stress upon the Word, that they were understood as 
regarding the Word and Spirit identical. One party 
would advocate a direct contact between the mind of 
man and the Spirit of God, and that the impression 
resulting from this contact was the converting and 
sanctifying power, while the other party would ask, 
Of what use or value then is the Word of God, if 
impressions made upon the soul without its agency 
are saving and sanctifying? The former view made 
every conversion a miracle as it was effected by a 
power that the sinner could neither avail himself of, 
nor resist, as the very desire for salvation must be 


121 


122 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


begotten in the heart by the Spirit which effected it; 
and in this view of the case man had no agency 
whatever in his own conversion. The latter view re- 
garded all the power of the Spirit as being put forth 
through the Word of God alone and all changes in 
saint or sinner, as the result of the light, instruction, 
and motives contained in the Words of Scripture, and 
as being accordant with the human mind, heart, and 
will; no distinction was made between the agent and 
instrument, but the Word and Spirit were regarded 
as one and the same. . 

These views being in direct conflict, both could 
not be true, while both might be false; but, instead of 
attempting to sustain either, or the hopeless task of 
harmonizing them, Mr. Scott resolved to review the 
whole ground, and see if the Scriptures did not war- 
rant a view different from those generally entertained, 
and free from the objections which might be urged 
against them. The result of his reflections upon this 
important theme was an elaborate discourse on the 
Holy Spirit, several editions of which were widely 
circulated in pamphlet form. 

The discourse was eagerly read, and had to pass 
through a most searching criticism, but it stood the 
test; the objections have already been forgotten, but 
his argument, no one has been able to improve. The 
main points of the discourse may be gathered from 
the following extracts: 


‘€ “Whom the world cannot receive.’—JOHN xiv. 


‘Christianity, as developed in the sacred oracles, is sus- 
tained by three divine missions—the mission of the Lord 
Jesus, the mission of the apostles, and the mission of the 
Holy Spirit; these embassies are distinct in three particulars, 
namely, person, termination, and design. Like the branches, 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 123 


flowers, and fruit of the same tree, they are, indeed, nearly 
and admirably related; still, however, like these, they are 
distinct; not one, but three missions, connected like the vine, 
its branches and clusters of grapes. 

‘“‘Of the person sent on these missions: It may suffice 
to observe that, although the Scriptures give to Jesus, the 
apostles, and to the Holy Spirit, the attitude of mission- 
aries, i.e., speak of them as persons sent by the Father, they 
never speak of the Father himself in such style. God is 
said, in the New Testament, to send the Lord Jesus, the 
Lord Jesus to send the apostles, and the Holy Spirit to be 
sent by the Father and the Son, but the Father himself 
is not said to be sent by any one. 

‘*Of the termination of these missions: Every embassy, 
political or religious, must and does end somewhere; hence, 
we have political embassies to Spain, Portugal, the Court of 
St. James, St. Cloud’s, Petersburgh, Naples; and we have 
religious missions to Japan, the Cape, Hindoostan, to the 
Indians, and the South seas. If it be inquired then, in what 
other respect these three divine institutions differed from 
each other, I answer, they had distinct terminations. Our 
Lord Jesus was sent personally to the Jewish nation and his 
mission terminated on that people. 

‘‘The apostles were sent to all the nations, and their 
mission terminated accordingly; but the Holy Spirit was sent 
only to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so far as his 
gifts were concerned, his mission terminated in that institu- 
tion. 

“Of the design of these missions: In every embassy there 
is something to be accomplished. We do not send out political 
and religious embassadors for nothing; but for the high pur- 
pose of negotiation; and, therefore, it will be seen, in the 
following discourse, that God, in sending forth His Son, the 
apostles, and the Holy Spirit, had a great design; also, that 
the ends of designs of the embassies of these functionaries 
were all distinct from each other. 

‘‘In fine, it will be shown, in regard to the Holy Spirit, 
that he was not sent to dwell in any man in order to make 
him a Christian, but because he had already become a Chris- 
tian; or, in other terms, it will be proved that the Holy Spirit 


124 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


is not given to men to make them believe and obey the gospel, 
but rather because they have believed and obeyed the gospel. 


‘‘The propositions of the discourse are as follows: 


‘“PROPOSITION 1. Jesus Christ was, personally, a missionary 
only to the Jew; his mission terminated on that people, and 
the designs of it were to proclaim the gospel, and to teach 
those among them who believed it. 


‘©PROPOSITION 2. The apostles were missionaries to the 
whole world; their mission terminated on mankind, and its 
design was to proclaim the gospel, and to teach those among 
men who believed it. 


“*PROPOSITION 3. The Holy Spirit was a missionary to the 
church; His mission terminated on that institution, and the 
designs of it were to comfort the disciples, glorify Jesus 
Christ as the true Messiah, and to convince the world of sin, 
righteousness, and judgment.’’ 


He showed clearly from the labors of Christ, while 
on earth, which were in strict accordance with his 
words, “I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel,’ that his mission began and termi- 
nated with that people. In like manner, from the com- 
mission, it was evident that the mission of the 
apostles was to all nations—the unconverted—and its 
design, their conversion by preaching the gospel; from 
which it follows that the mission of the Spirit was 
not to the world or the unconverted, as, in that case, 
its mission and that of the apostles would have been 
the same; but that its mission was as distinct from 
theirs, as theirs was from that of the Savior; that 
it was to the church, and not to the world, since 
Christ had said of the Spirit, “whom the world can 
not receive.” This point he argues as follows: 

‘*The idea of the Spirit being a missionary to the church 


affords a new and striking argument against that immoral 
and fatal maxim in popular theology, namely, that special 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 125 


spiritual operations are necessary to faith! In this discourse 
it is shown that the church was formed before any of her 
members received the Spirit; that after the church was 
formed the Spirit was sent into her on the day of Pentecost ; 
finally, that men did not and do not receive this Spirit to 
make them disciples, but because they were or are disciples ; 
in a word, it is shown, from the express words of Christ him- 
self, that no man that does not first of all believe the gospel 
can receive the Holy Spirit. ‘If any man thirst,’ says Christ, 
‘let him come unto me and drink, and out of his belly shall 
flow rivers of living water.’ Now, what does this mean ; 
that the Holy Spirit will be given to unbelievers? No. J ohn, 
the Apostle, explains it as follows: ‘This he spake of the 
Spirit which was to be given to those who believed, for the 
Spirit was not yet given (to believers) because that Jesus 
was not yet glorified.’ 

‘*Concerning the Holy Spirit, the Redeemer said, further: 
‘It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not 
away, the Comforter will not come; but if I go away, I will 
send him to you’; again, ‘whom the world cannot receive.’ 
I will send him to you; to you, my disciples; now, the num- 
ber of disciples must have been at this time very great, for 
Christ made and baptized, it is said, more than John ; there 
were one hundred and twenty present on the day of Pentecost, 
and five hundred brethren beheld him at once after his 
resurrection, and all these were reckoned disciples without 
having received the Holy Spirit! But if the Holy Spirit had 
been necessary to make men repent and believe the gospel, 
then he must have come to them before Jesus left the world; 
and, consequently, when he went away he could not send him, 
from the fact that he had already come—I will send him to 
you. The mission of the Spirit, then, was to those whom 
the Redeemer designated you, the disciples—the church which 
he had gathered; and this institution is distinguished from 
the world by nothing so much as that of receiving the Spirit 
through faith; for, a prime reason why the world does not 
receive the Spirit is, that it has no faith in God. ‘Whom 
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not.’ The 
Spirit, then, being received by them who believe, and the 
world being endued with sense, and having no faith, it is 


126 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


impossible that he should be received by the world, or that 
his mission should be to unbelieving men. He came to the 
church; and there is no instance on record of the Holy Spirit 
transcending the limits of his mission, or of operating in a 
man before faith to produce that principle in his soul. 


‘<The doctrine, then, alas! the too popular doctrine, which 
extends the mission of the Spirit beyond the bounds of the 
church, and teaches the world, which the Savior says, cannot 
receive him, to sit and wait for his internal special operations 
to produce faith, is monstrously absurd and impious; absurd, 
because it makes the Holy Spirit to transgress, by overreach- 
ing the limits of his embassy, which is to the church; and 
impious, because it makes him give the lie to the Lord of 
Glory, who says, the world cannot receive him. Jesus said, 
“When he is come he will glorify me.’ Would it glorify the 
Redeemer’s character before either angels or men to make 
him a liar, as the Spirit would and must do, were he, accord- 
ing to the maxims of party.theology, to be received by sinners 
for the purpose of originating in them either faith or re- 
pentance? Let ministers reflect on this; let all professors 
reflect on this. 


‘‘That those who obey the gospel, that is, believe, repent, 
and are baptized, do and must, by the very nature of the 
New Covenant, receive the Holy Spirit, is made certain by a 
‘thus saith the Lord’; but that men who hear the gospel, 
cannot believe and obey it, is wholly human, and is supported 
by nothing but a ‘thus saith the man’—the preacher—the 
Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the 
Quaker; for, however these parties differ in other matters, 
they are all alike here; in this doctrine they are one! And 
judge for yourself, reader, whether such among us, as are 
charged with the office of public instructors in the Christian 
religion, are not chargeable with the grossest perversity, when 
we refuse to announce the great things of salvation in the 
sound words of the New Testament, and ery aloud that our 
audience cannot believe and obey the gospel, on the testimony 
of the Holy Scriptures, without special operations from the 
Holy Spirit, when Almighty God has caused it to be written 
in living characters on the intelligible page of his never- 
dying word, ‘Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOT’ 127 


the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and 
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ 

‘‘The Spirit, then, can do nothing in religion, nothing in 
Christianity, but by the members of the body of Christ. Even 
the Word of God—the Scriptures—have been given by mem- 
bers filled with this Spirit; they spake as the Spirit gave 
them utterance. But mark, reader, that there is no member 
of the body of Christ in whom the Holy Spirit dwelleth not; 
for it will hold as good at the end of the world as it does 
now, and it holds as good now as it did on the day of 
Pentecost and afterward, that ‘if any man have not the Spirit 
of Christ he is none of his.’ If, therefore, the Spirit con- 
vinees the world of sin, or glorifies Jesus, it is all through 
the agency of the members of the body of Christ, whom he 
fills—the church. Hence, the indispensable duty of all dis- 
ciples being led by the Spirit of God, with which they are 
sealed, and of holding forth, in the language of the New 
Testament, the gospel; for, where there are no Christians, or 
where Christians do not perform their duties, there are no 
conversions—as in Tartary, India, some parts of Europe, 
and so forth. But wherever there are Christians, Christians 
who hold forth the gospel in the sound words used on Pentecost 
by the apostles, there will always be some conversions, more 
or less.’’ 


The “Word alone” party were ready to admit that 
the gospel was the great instrumentality in the con- 
version of the world, the power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one that believed it, as it accorded with 
the course pursued by the apostles, who, as is evident 
from the account of their labors in the book of Acts, 
preached the gospel wherever they went, and promised 
the Spirit to those who became obedient; and they 
saw, moreover, that the gospel which they preached 
was never called the Spirit: and the “Spirit alone” 
party were astounded at the discovery that Christ 
had said that the world could not receive the Spirit, 
and that conversions never were known to precede a 


128 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


knowledge of the Word, but invariably followed the 
preaching. Mr. Scott had thrown away all theories 
and speculations in regard to the matter, and fal- 
len back upon the Scriptures; and, hence, those who 
reverenced the Word of God had little difficulty in 
accepting what now, in the light of that Word, was 
so clear. 


CHAPTER XVII 


Bi the prominence given in the preceding pages 
to the restoration of baptism to the place it oc- 
cupied in the primitive age, the impression may have 
been made that this was the only matter of importance 
that Mr. Scott rescued from the false views enter- 
tained concerning it, and the disuse as a practical 
element of the gospel scheme, into which it had fallen. 

To return to these old and forgotten paths was the 
great object of Scott’s labors, and not many years 
had passed after he had thrown all else away, until 
his preaching, and that of his fellow-laborers was dis- 
tinguished by the expressions, “The true gospel,” 
“The original gospel,” “The primitive gospel,” “The 
Pentecostian gospel,” and “The Jerusalem gospel”; 
none of these terms were current prior to that time, 
and their very use proves at least that he and they 
claimed to preach that gospel to which all these ex- 
pressions pointed. 

He made the Word of God his companion by day, 
and meditated upon it in the night-watches, and, in 
consequence, made much of its language his own, so 
that he could draw freely on his memory for the 
choicest things in the Book of God; and from this 
rich treasury he brought forth freely things new and 
old. Like David, his heart inclined to the law of the 
Lord, and thus, at times, his thoughts concerning it 
would flow: Oh, Book of God! thou sacred temple! 
thou holy place! thou gold incense altar! thou heav- 
enly shew-bread! thou cherubim-embroidered vail! 
thou mercy-seat of beaten gold! thou Shekinah in 
which the divinity is enshrined! thou ark of the cov- 


129 


130 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


enant! thou new creation! thou tree of life, whose 
sacred leaves heal the nations! thou river of life, 
whose waters cleanse and refresh the world! thou 
New Jerusalem, resplendent with gems and gold! thou 
Paradise of God, wherein walks the second Adam! thou 
throne of God and the Lamb! thou peace-promising 
rainbow, encircling that throne, unsullied and unfallen! 
Image of God and his Son who sit thereon, what a 
futurity of dignity, kingly majesty, and eternal glory 
is hidden in thee! thou art my comfort in the house 
of my pilgrimage. Let the kings and counselors of 
the earth, and princes, who have got gold and silver, 
build for themselves sepulchers in solitary places, but 
mine, oh, be it mine, to die in the Lord! Then “earth 
to earth, and dust to dust,” but the great mausoleum, 
the Word of the Lord, be the shrine of my soul. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


Rae social qualities of Elder Scott were of a high 
order; he possessed in a remarkable degree the 
power of adapting himself to any company into which 
he might be thrown. Many persons need the stimulus 
of an audience to call forth their best efforts; but he 
was often as happy and fascinating in his presenta- 
tion of truth in the presence of a few as when before 
a large and delighted auditory. His ready wit, and 
flow of anecdote, his large and intimate acquaintance 
with science and literature, rendered him the center of 
every circle, no matter how accomplished and refined 
that circle might be. His manners were those of an 
accomplished gentleman, and the brilliancy of his con- 
versation, and the kindness of his heart, always made 
him a favorite, and, in not a few instances, gained him 
the lasting friendship of those who differed from him 
when they met; but were very near his way of think- 
ing when they parted. 


He numbered among his personal friends many emi- 
nent men in the various religious denominations; and 
the facility with which he formed such friendships 
may be learned from the following account of a trip 
up the Ohio. On the last day of the year 1833, in 
company with Bro. Joseph Bryant, he started on a 
visit to Virginia, and as travel in those days was a 
more serious affair than the present, it took several 
days to make the voyage from Cincinnati to Wheel- 
ing, during which time he made several useful ac- 
quaintances, and sowed much good seed. How this 
was done we will let him tell the reader himself. He 
says: 

131 


132 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘*We were detained a day in the city for want of a boat, 
but now the steamers lay panting along the shore, like so 
many racers, each eager to make the first descent to Louis- 
ville, Natchez, or New Orleans. We boarded the ‘Planter,’ 
a steamer of the lowest rate in point of size, but possess- 
ing the best accommodations for deck and cabin passengers. 
After a momentary hesitation I entered my name for 
Wellsburgh, berth No. 12. My indecision rose from a sud- 
den but transient recollection of my late long debility, during 
which I had contracted the most invincible love of home. 
Bro. Bryant rallied me a little, and I yielded to what I was 
ashamed to resist. 

““Next day the bell rang the signal for departure, and 
the deck and cabin were crowded instanter. In the eabin 
the passengers walked stately, or talked importantly, while 
some hung on the back of their chairs; and, like birds, when 
boys approach their haunts, couched their heads, and cast 
frequent and speculative glances at their fellows, hoping to 
descry in their faces, dresses, walk, or talk, indications of 
their natural, social, or religious importance and character. 

‘‘There are many charms, and sometimes much excellent 
fellowship, in a good supper. The captain of the ‘Planter’ 
served us with one of the very best; and soon exalted all 
minds to the conversational pitch. If silence or gloom had 
hitherto pervaded the cabin, it might have been owing to a 
fact of which I was not then aware, namely, that there were 
actually no fewer than five ministers present! all alike strang- 
ers to each other, and to the rest of the company generally. 
I, like others, perhaps, thought myself unknown except by 
Bro. Bryant; but in this I was mistaken; I was recognized 
immediately, and spoken to by all as if I had previously 
enjoyed the honor of their acquaintance. Some were citizens 
of Cincinnati, some relations to brethren in the West, and 
some were actually of the brethren. 

‘One of the ministers was a Presbyterian, who, as he 
afterward informed me, had been a physician, but had be- 
come a teacher of religion, from sentiments of high regard 
for the interests of Christianity; his name was Mr. Gridly, 
at that time an agent of the Tract Society. Mr. Gridly was 
too sincerely inspired with the importance of religion in gen- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT ie 


eral, and of his own mission in particular, not to let his high 
calling be speedily understood. 

‘*Another of our ministers was a Mr. Smeed, an Episco- 
palian, an assistant to the Rector of Christ’s Church, New 
York. Possessed of the most pleasing exterior, Mr. Smeed 
discovered the greatest candor and ingenuousness of mind, 
speaking freely of every thing which related to the truth 
of revealed religion, and doing the greatest honor to every 
argument of those whose views led them to differ from him 
in any matter in Christianity. Dr. M e of L n had, 
during his visit to that city, convinced him that immersion 
alone was baptism; and before he left the ‘Planter’ his 
ingenuousness and love of truth led him to afford me ample 
opportunity of laying before him the doctrine of Scripture, 
concerning the Holy Spirit. He admitted the adequacy of 
the divine testimony alone to produce faith in all who read 
the Scriptures with proper motives; and said, he thought he 
never would again direct sinners to wait upon special opera- 
tions so long as he lived. I earnestly entreated him to 
announce the gospel in the style and language of the apostles, 
and to administer it to believers accordingly. 


‘“Mr. Ross had been a Universalist, and was, as he joc- 
ularly expressed it, a sprig of the college. He had in his 
youth been thoroughly drilled in the elements of the learned 
languages, but his talents were allowed to languish, and his 
education was incomplete. He heard my discourses and rea- 
soning on the ancient gospel with unfeigned pleasure, and, 
in the presence of all the passengers, expressed his gratitude 
to God for being permitted that day to hear announced and 
defended a thing of which he had been told so many wonder- 
ful but erroneous stories. Mr. Ross finally admitted the 
views of the Reformers, and declared he never could forget 
the things which had, during the voyage up the river, been 
submitted to his consideration. 

‘*Our fourth minister belonged to the Dutch Reformed. 
He was a German by birth, and had not been more than 
one year in the United States. He was certainly a pious 
man, but he spoke English very indifferently; for want of 
words, he could not express himself in such a manner as to 
render his conversation agreeable either to himself or others. 








134 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


He parted with the company in tears, and wished us individ- 
ually the divine blessing. 


‘“Here we were then, five of us cooped up with nearly 
thirty more, all as impatient and undoubting on the bub- 
ject of religion, perhaps, as ourselves! What was to be 
done? What was to be expected? Any thing but war! 
Nothing but war. Being somewhat indisposed I had hoped 
my debilitated and sunken frame would have been permitted 
to indulge in ease during our three or four days journey up 
the river, but no, ‘war in the wigwam’; there is no rest here. 


*“It is singular to contemplate how much the prejudices 
of thousands have been touched and stirred up by the resto- 
ration of the Baptism of Remission, and the Scripture ae- 
count of the Holy Spirit. Here was a whole cabin full of 
men, ignorant, entirely ignorant, of the character of the 
Reformers who plead for the original gospel, and of every 
circumstance relative to its re-appearance in society; yet, 
perhaps, there was not a single individual among them wholly 
unacquainted with the points of dispute between us, and all 
other parties on the field. 

‘We were soon invited to hostilities; Mr. Gridly was 
neither ashamed of his religion, nor aware of the indefensi- 
bility of some of his sentiments, as a minister of the Pres- 
byterian body. Baptism, therefore, baptism, that bone of 
contention, between those who immerse and those who do 
any thing else was soon upon the carpet. But Professor 
Stuart has settled this question in regard to Presbyterians; 
Mr. Gridly, therefore, was unable to stand a single minute 
before his learned brother’s criticism, the Andover Profes- 
sor. Indeed, Mr. Gridly did not seem aware of the mis- 
ehief which Mr. Stuart had done to the sprinkling cause, 
but he was made to feel it severely; for a regular Baptist, 
who made one of our number, urged upon him, with much 
gravity, both the truth and potency of the Professor’s crit- 
icism. One of the Plinys says, that true glory consists in 
doing things worthy of being written, of writing things 
worthy of being read, and leaving the world (ourselves) 
the better of having lived in it. The skirmish which took 
place this evening, however, seemed only to whet up the 
courage of those engaged in it for more and better defined 


LIFE OF -ELDER WALTER SCOTT 135 


contention. Whether we, this night, dreamed of victory and 
triumph, I know not; but sure it is that a more eager dis- 
cussion of religious matters than was lighted up aboard the 
‘Planter’ next morning I never witnessed. It is pleasing 
to add, however, that never were religious men better pleased 
with each other, or apparently more solicitous to honor the 
sentiments and sincerity of each other, than the passengers 
aboard the ‘Planter.’ 


‘Mr. Gridly is a very accomplished man, and, as he in- 
formed us, is at present engaged as an agent of the Tract 
Society; I told him that on condition he would admit eer- 
tain premises, I felt perfectly willing to take the opposite 
of a proposition which he had asserted and assumed in his 
conversation with a gentleman who sat by us. I continued 
to observe, that he had intimated, that ‘faith came by a 
special internal operation of the Holy Spirit.’ Now, this 
was precisely what I denied, and I should be very happy to 
hear him on the affirmative, on condition that we should 
first define the subject of the proposition, namely, faith; 
and, secondly, that the Holy Seriptures should be taken as 
all authority, and as the only authority, in the case. Mr. 
Gridly agreed to these two preliminaries, and the word was 
submitted for definition. Being requested to speak first, 
I supplied, of course, the apostolical exposition of faith, 
found in the llth of the Hebrews, accompanied with a suf- 
ficient number of suitable illustrations drawn from the same 
chapter. Mr. Gridly then proceeded, and after an incom- 
prehensible definition of faith, not in the words of Scripture, 
but in his own words, unaccompanied by one single illustra- 
tion. I replied, and appealed to the numerous auditors, 
whether Mr. Gridly had not departed wholly from the prem- 
ises, ‘that the Scriptures should be exclusive authority in the 
case?’ I went for the very words of Scripture in the matter 
of definition, and, agreeably, had submitted the apostle’s 
account of faith in the words of the apostle. The question 
now was, whether this definition could be received as unex- 
ceptionable. Mr. Gridly assented to it as unexceptionable, 
and the proposition in form came forthwith upon the carpet; 
the several ministers seemed to draw nearer and closer, and 
Mr. Gridly stated the proposition to be discussed, namely, 


136 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘That special operations of the Holy Spirit are necessary to 
“faith? 

‘“Mr. Gridly then adduced as argument for the affirmative, 
the words of the Lord Jesus, namely, ‘When he, the Holy 
Spirit, is come, he will convince the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and of judgment.’ This was conceived to be in 
point. But in answer, it was replied, that although the 
Spirit was to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, 
and of judgment, it was not asserted in the verse that 
he should convince them of faith, or that he should give 
them faith. On the contrary, he was to convince them of 
sin, because they had no faith. He shall convince them 
of sin, ‘because,’ said the Lord, ‘they believe not on me.’ 
Moreover, if the Holy Spirit is to give us faith, and -con- 
vince us of sin because we have it not, then religion is 
founded in cruelty and absurdity; for, how could he eon- 
vince me of sin in having no faith if it were his own in- 
defeasible office by internal uncontrollable operations to be- 
stow upon me this grace? As well might he assume to 
convince a man of sin, in not seeing when he was born 
blind! Neither reason nor the Scripture adduced favored 
the affirmative that special operations are necessary to faith. 

‘‘It was then proposed, as a second authority, that 
Stephen said to those who condemned him, ‘Ye do always 
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.’ This, 
it was conceived, very much countenanced special operations. 

‘“In reply: It is to be admitted that they and their 
fathers were guilty of the same sin; that is, they both 
resisted the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit spoke to their 
fathers by the prophets, and to them by the apostles; they 
and their fathers, then, had resisted him. But where was 
he when they resisted him? Was he in them and their 
fathers, or in the apostles and prophets? In the apostles 
and prophets without doubt! The spirit of the devil was 
in them and their fathers, and led them to offer despite to 
the Spirit of God who wrought before them, for their salva- 
tion, all mighty signs, and wonders, and powers, and miracles, 
and glorious works! 

‘*Before the examination of this part of Mr. Gridly’s 
argument was finished, Mr. Smeed, the Episcopalian clergy- 
man, a gentleman alike distinguished for personal beauty 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 13/ 


and ingenuousness of mind, supplied Mr. Gridly with an- 
other Scripture, viz.: ‘No man can say that Jesus is the 
Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.’ 


‘‘In reply: It was asked, whether the operations, by 
which we were enabled to believe in Jesus and say he is 
the Lord, were internal or external? I asserted they were 
external in signs, and miracles; and adduced, as proof, the 
case of John the Baptist, who said he knew him not; but 
received the external sign of the Spirit’s descent as that 
by which he should know him. ‘And I saw and bare wit- 
ness,’ said John, ‘that this is the Son of God.’ The ease 
of the twelve apostles, the people on Pentecost, the Samari- 
tans, and others, were then brought forward as instances of 
the same nature, and to the same point. 

‘‘Here dinner was announced, and, every one starting to 
his feet, the Universalist clergyman, Mr. Ross, a person 
of great respectability, and known to several gentlemen in 
the cabin, availed himself of the occasion and publicly 
thanked God he had been favored with an opportunity of 
hearing stated and defended the sentiments for which I 
pleaded, namely, that ‘faith cometh by hearing and not by 
special operations of the Spirit.’ The above gentleman was 
finally convinced of the truth of the ancient gospel, and 
expressed a serious regret that our present accidental, but 
interesting, interview, was to suffer interruption by an un- 
avoidable separation. 

‘‘Mr. Gridly confessed that his opponent had managed 
the argument with great coolness, but could not help think- 
ing that his course owed more to his ingenuity and subtlety 
of reason than the Holy Scriptures. 

‘His opponent admired Mr. Gridly’s manner of escap- 
ing from the horns of the dilemma, between which he had 
been thrown. Much had been adduced to show that faith 
came by hearing, but nothing satisfactory that it came in the 
manner asserted by Mr. Gridly. 

‘Mr. Ross, the Universalist minister, is a gentleman of 
great urbanity, and has received a good education. He 
listened to an explication of our sentiments with great ap- 
parent satisfaction, and seemed much to admire the ancient 
gospel. 


138 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘*For the entertainment of the company during the after- 
noon, it was agreed to by the ministers, that each of them 
should speak for fifteen minutes on some select subject, but 
not in the way of replication to any thing that had been 
spoken before, or that might be said in the course of the 
entertainment. 

‘‘Mr. Smeed, the Episcopalian, being requested to com- 
mence, declined, as being’ the youngest; and Mr. Ross io 
a like solicitation, replied in the negative, and apologized 
as being the oldest; being neither so young as Mr. Smeed, 
nor so old as Mr. Ross, I was left without excuse, and, at 
the earnest request of the company, opened the entertain- 
ment by a discourse on the ‘Unity and variety of the Gos- 
pel’; Mr. Gridly followed on ‘True Repentance’; Mr. Smeed 
selected for a theme, ‘The Nature of Genuine and Scriptural 
Liberality’; and Mr. Ross concluded on ‘The Necessity of 
Immediately Preparing for that State which is to succeed the 
Present.’ 

‘*Next night it was agreed that each should speak for an 
indefinite time on any subject he pleased to select. Mr. Gridly 
spoke first, and chose for a topic, ‘Regeneration.’ I spoke 
next, and selected for a theme, ‘The Literal and Figurative 
Representations which are given of the Gospel in the New 
Testament. ’ 

‘In the course of this speech it was shown that the 
gospel in principle is faith; it is repentance, baptism, re- 
mission of sins, the Holy Spirit, eternal life. These priv- 
ileges and principles, it was vouched, constituted the 
gospel literally. The question was then asked, ‘What is 
the gospel figuratively?’ In answer, it was stated that 
the gospel figuratively is many a thing; it is a new birth, 
a burial, a resurrection, a death, an ingrafting, a marriage; 
but it is a most important fact, in relation to figures, how- 
ever, that they are not intended to add to, or diminish 
from, the literal sense of the gospel; for whether metaphor- 
ized by a birth, a marriage, or a death, the gospel, literally, 
is ever the same in principle; in practice, in privilege, and 
in spirit, it is still the same. A metaphor, like a ray of light, 
falling on the face of a clock, and discovering the hour of 
day without disturbing the index, sheds a lustre on the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 139 


thing metaphorized, and gives to it a vivacity and spright- 
liness not its own; but it disturbs not its parts, it interferes 
not with its structure. 


‘“Why, then, do men fail to be intelligible and _per- 
spicuous when they discourse on the figures and metaphors 
employed to give lustre and sprightliness to the gospel, and 
to parts and points in the gospel? 


‘‘The reason is, that figure is only to be explained by 
fact, and the metaphorical by the literal; a person ignorant 
of the fact must be ignorant of the figure, and no man ean 
explain the metaphorical who does not first understand the 
literal. Why have we so many incoherent and absurd the- 
ories of regeneration? I answer, simply because the authors 
of them are ignorant of the literal gospel, and unfortu- 
nately imagine that it is one thing in fact, and another in 
figure. But, although the gospel were held up in a million 
of different figures, it would literally still be the same; it 
would still be faith in principle, reformation in practice, love 
in sentiment, pardon, the Spirit, and life eternal. 

‘*Mr. Smeed proposed the three following propositions, 
and spoke on them with great force and beauty. 

‘*1st. God loves all men. 

‘*2d. He has provided salvation for all men. 

‘*3d. He has put the means of obtaining this salvation 
equally within the power of all men who have the gospel. 

‘*Mr. Smeed possesses a fine exterior, and many personal 
accomplishments, nor is he less distinguished for the ami- 
able and shining qualities of the mind; but I am sorry to 
say, that his beautiful and forcible speech ended with the 
common error that, over and above the divine testimony, 
spiritual operations are necessary to belief. 

‘“In subsequent conversation, however, this gentleman 
afforded me ample opportunity of pointing out this error, 
and of laying before him the ancient gospel, and particu- 
larly that point in it which relates to the Spirit. He heard 
me with much patience; understood me perfectly, that the 
Spirit was promised not to sinners, but to the saints; saw 
where Episcopalians and Presbyterians were one, and that 
though Mr. Gridly and he had spoken on different topics, 


140 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


and were known by different party names, yet they came 
out at the same point at last, namely, that ‘the Spirit is 
necessary to faith.’ 

‘Next morning another sortie from both camps brought 
Mr. Gridly and myself once more upon the carpet, and af- 
forded me a final opportunity of bringing the gospel before 
the whole company. 

‘“Never did I sit in company with men of greater decency 
of behavior; every one seemed to strive with all the rest to 
make himself agreeable. The captain of the ‘Planter’ is a 
sensible, kind, quiet, attentive man; and when we came to 
part, each took down, in his pocketbook, the names of all 
the others, that he might at least remember those in whose 
company he had tasted so many of those pleasing attentions 
which render life agreeable. 

“As we ascended the river the ice increased, and the 
paddles had to be cleared from the masses of it, which now 
greatly impeded our progress; this difficulty obviated, we 
proceeded upward, and arrived at Wheeling a little after 
dusk. The boat was unable to proceed to Pittsburg, and 
of consequence, all parted, perhaps never to meet again. 

‘‘This evening, we met with the brethren in Wheeling, 
who were as much surprised at our appearance as I was 
delighted with their company. Next morning we took our 
leave of them, and proceeded, Bro. Bryant and myself, towards 
Wellsburg. Praised be the name of the Lord.’’ 


CHAPTER XIX 


P to this time the labors of Scott had been con- 
fined, in a great measure, to Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
and Virginia; but he now began to turn his attention 
to Kentucky, where the Reformation was making 
great progress. Several of the preachers from that 
State had visited him at Carthage, and had formed a 
very high opinion of his ability as a preacher; he was 
widely known also to many there through his paper, 
and there was a great desire to see and hear him; and, 
in the spring of 1835, he spent some six weeks in what 
is known as the “Blue Grass region.” 


His first discourse was at Georgetown and failed to 
come up to the general expectation, which, as is usual 
on such occasions, was far too high; but the brethren 
gathered round him and spoke encouragingly, and 
when they gathered for the evening discourse every- 
thing was more favorable than it had been in the 
morning; then, all was expectation and curiosity, a 
strange audience, and a strange preacher were before 
each other, the former eager and critical, the latter 
aware of it, and doubtful of sustaining the opinion 
which those who had heard him elsewhere had widely 
and freely expressed; now, however, a change had 
taken place, the extravagant expectation on the part 
of the audience had abated—the morning discourse, 
though not brilliant and eloquent, was felt to be 
thoughtful and instructive, and the preacher, if not 
an orator, an earnest and cultivated man. The 
preacher felt that too much was not expected, as in 
the morning; the songs which preceded the sermon 
were cheering, the confidence which showed itself in 


141 


142 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


the faces of his brethren encouraging; he felt that 
he had a place in their hearts, and that their prayers 
were going up in his behalf. He arose to speak, a 
different man, his discourse far surpassed all that his 
most sanguine friends had hoped—the public were 
surprised and delighted. 

Elder L. H. Jameson, who had accompanied him 
from Ohio, says: “His theme was the struggle of the 
Messiah against the reign of sin, and the glorious 
victory of the Son of God. The after-part of the dis- 
course was a continued series of most eloquent pas- 
sages. One passage is fresh in my memory still. He 
undertook to describe the casting out of the Prince 
of Darkness. Satan falling as lightning from heaven. 
Hurled from the battlements of light down to eternal 
darkness, and interminable woe, by the all-powerful 
hand of the Son of God. Then was heard the glori- 
ous song of redemption, through all the heavenly 
clime. Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou- 
sands of thousands of angels, on harps of gold, re- 
sponded to the glorious song, and filled the heaven 
and the heaven of heavens with such a strain of 
praise as never before had greeted the ears of the 
first-born sons of light. The appearance and man- 
ner of the speaker was fully up to his theme. He 
made us see and hear what he was describing. The 
discourse was in keeping with his train of thought— 
at the time on the death of Christ—in its relations and 
uses, in the great plan of human Redemption.” 

He next visited Lexington, and, while there, he 
says: 

‘*We did ourselves the honor this morning to visit, at 


his own farm, one and a half miles from Lexington, the 
distinguished American statesman, Henry Clay. We passed 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 143 


from the main road to the mansion-house of Mr. Clay by a 
circular avenue of poplars and pines, which made me fancy 
myself once more in old Scotia, where such trees form the 
common timber of the country, and must be remarkable in 
this only because they are a species of evergreen, and do not 
shed their crop of green needles until they are pushed from 
their places by those of the succeeding year. 


‘*The farm must be a delightful spot in the spring, sum- 
mer, and autumn, as its appearance was beautiful even at 
this early season; but circumstances did not admit us de- 
laying to examine it and the imported breeds of eattle with 
which, we were informed, it has been stocked by its dis- 
tinguished owner. We only gave an en passant glance at 
its extended lawns and spreading forests as we advanced to 
the house. When we had ascended the flight of stone stairs 
which lead to the front door, we were received by a well- 
bred colored servant, who invited us into the saloon, and 
announced us to his master. Mr. Clay received us in a 
very gracious manner indeed, and by an act of real kind- 
ness instantly dissipated the slight trepidation which I, for 
one, felt as a person visiting, for the first time a great and 
celebrated man whom I had never seen, and to whom, even 
now, I had no letter of introduction. The parlor, in which 
we found Mr. Clay, gave evidence, by its furniture and 
ornaments, both of the taste and quality of its owner; it 
was of a semi-circular form, with windows in the corners 
reaching from the floor almost to the ceiling; these were 
hung with sky-colored curtains which gave it an air of great 
cheerfulness. The floor was covered with carpet, and the 
pieces of furniture were few in number; this last incident 
very much suited my taste, for, of all things in the world, 
I dislike a room crowded with furniture till there is scarce 
space left to turn about in without incommoding your fel- 
lows. Those who do so, display much wealth and taste, 
and would seem to trust their cause for respect rather to 
the animal than to the. rational among those who visit 
them. Portraits of Washington and other eminent individuals 
were hanging around the room; and, upon the whole, it was 
a sweet apartment, containing nothing that could make either 
poor men afraid or rich men ashamed. Men in public life 


144 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


should be careful how they furnish their houses and clothe 
their persons; for to dress in such vulgar garments as to 
make the rich ashamed, or in such courtly ones as to make 
the poor afraid, is, to say the least of it, injudicious; good 
and great men should trust their cause for respect chiefly to 
their own public performances, to their private virtues, and 
to the more estimable and exalted qualities of their superior — 
minds. 

““Mr. Clay was clothed in the most modest suit imaginable, 
and, by his appearance, made us feel as if we were in the 
presence of a person not at all beneath us, nor so high above 
us, but that we could be perfectly easy, and speak to him 
what we wished to say, and, also, to ask of him what we 
desired to know. In person, Mr. Clay would be esteemed 
tall, and he is very well formed; his whole appearance 
strongly represented to me the person of a very respectable 
Presbyterian or Episcopalian clergyman in the advance of 
life. , 

‘¢There is nothing striking in the expression of Mr. Clay’s 
face while at ease or unoccupied, but it may be, and I dare 
say it is, very different, when all his features are lighted up 
by the inspiration of a great political question, and he 
stands in the halls of legislation, surrounded by innumerable 
admiring statesmen, lawyers, ambassadors, orators, and men 
of science, pouring forth, on a great topic, in deep, mellow 
tones, the unconstrained deluge of his superior eloquence. 
There is, in the contour of his face, more reflection than 
perception; and his eye, consequently, discovers more of the 
sedateness of supreme talent than the restlessness of peculiar 
genius. He is exceedingly good looking, and has a kind, 
condescending address. 


“As we had seen the great lawyer and statesman, Henry 
Clay, so we felt anxious to see the great soldier and states- 
man, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, also. Accordingly, we set 
out, after our return to Georgetown, in company with his 
brother, John T. Johnson, to the place of the Colonel’s 
residence, a distance of about seven miles. The colonel gave 
us a round, hearty welcome, as was befitting a soldier, and 
willing to gratify us by every means in his power. Being 
requested, he spoke freely of the battle of the Thames, and 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 145 


of his own encounter with Chief Tecumseh; but I learned 
afterward, from an account of that well-fought field, which 
I got from Captain Wall, who was one of the forlorn hope 
in the fray, that the colonel had suppressed several very 
striking incidents relative to his own personal bravery and 
patriotism on that dreadful day. It was truly affecting to 
behold the wounds of this gallant old soldier. The bullet shot 
by Tecumseh passed through his hand and arm, and must 
have reached his heart had it not been thus intercepted; 
he has, also, a very dangerous looking wound on one of his 
legs; and it is said that his mare staggered under him 
while he shot Tecumseh with no fewer than seven balls in 
her. The colonel showed us three swords: one presented 
to him by the patriotic ladies of Seott County, Kentucky; 
another, which had belonged to the Duke of Suffolk, and 
was presented to the colonel by General McComb, of the 
United States Army; and the third, the sword presented to 
him by Congress as a testimony of that body’s respect for 
his gallant conduct at the battle of the Thames. It cost, I 
believe, twelve hundred dollars.’’ 


He visited several other points, making, every- 
where a good impression, and the result was frequent 
visits, in after years, which were attended by the 
conversion of hundreds, and the upbuilding of the 
saints. 

In the year following he began and completed his 
book called “The Gospel Restored,” a full, clear, and 
systematic view of the Christian Religion, of which 
it may be safely said, that no book of the present 
century has done more to explode common and 
popular errors, and set forth the teachings of the 
Word of God in their pristine order, simplicity, and 
beauty. The plan of the work is simple, yet com- 
prehensive, being an analysis of sin; and the gospel 
is presented as the means of recovery of man from 
its power and punishment. He says: “In regard to 


146 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


sinners and sin, six things are to be considered: the 
love of it, the practice of it, the state of it, the guilt 
of it, the power of it, and the punishment of it. The 
first three relate to the sinner; the last three to sin. 
Now, faith, repentance, and baptism, refer to the first 
three—the love, the practice, and the state of sin; 
while remission, the Holy Spirit, and the resurrection, 
relate to the last three—the guilt, the power, and the 
punishment of sin; in other words, to make us see 
the beauty and perfection of the gospel theory, as 
devised by God: faith is to destroy the love of sin, 
repentance to destroy the practice of it; baptism, the 
state of it; remission, the guilt of it; the Spirit, the 
power of it; and the resurrection to destroy the 
punishment of sin; so that the last enemy, death, 
will be destroyed.” 

The effect of this volume may be learned, in a 
measure, from an incident which took place about a 
quarter of a century after. While on a visit to Mis- 
souri, Elder Scott met with the well-known Elder 
M. E. Lard, who threw his arm around him, and, 
with great warmth of feeling, said: “Bro. Scott, you 
are the man who first taught me the gospel.” “How 
so?” was the reply. “It was by your Gospel Re- 
stored,” said Lard; and this was only one instance 
among hundreds; and it is common yet to hear from 
the pulpit his simple, natural, and Scriptural arrange- 
ment of the gospel plan. 

The visit of Elder Scott to Kentucky, already men- 
tioned, resulted in many others at the earnest solicita- 
tions of brethren there. Each visit seemed to make 
another necessary; the converts, made on each of 
these visits, were greatly attached to him, who had 
been instrumental in bringing them to Christ; the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 147 


new congregations established needed his care and 
counsel; and the result was that most of his time was 
now spent in that State. 


He did not, however, forget his labors and priva- 
tions on the Western Reserve, nor was he forgotten 
there; frequent and earnest invitations came from 
his former companions in toil; and the feeling that led 
the Apostle John to say that he had no greater joy 
than to see his children walk in the truth, caused him 
to earnestly desire to see again their faces in the 
flesh. This desire he gratified, and he gives the fol- 
lowing account of his visit: 


*‘Having labored for upward of a year among the churches 
of Kentucky, we came, finally, to the conclusion, in October 
last, to visit the brethren of Pittsburg, and the churches on 
the Western Reserve, the region in which the original gospel 
was, in these latter times, first proclaimed for salvation. <Ac- 
cordingly, availing ourselves of the facilities of a steamer, 
we set out, in company with brethren Pendleton and Camp- 
bell, for these parts. We had not proceeded many miles up 
the river, till, with equal surprise and pleasure, we discovered 
we carried aboard, together with her daughter, the widow 
of the late illustrious patriot, General Alexander Hamilton. 
She is now in her 84th year; had been on a visit to Wiscon- 
sin, and was returning to the city of New York, her usual 
place of residence. She is a daughter of General Schuyler, 
and is much devoted to the memory of her husband, of whom 
she recited some anecdotes of intense interest. She also 
favored us with a bosom portrait of the great patriot, and 
said that he both confessed and partook of the Lord’s Supper 
before he expired, testifying, in this manner, his belief in the 
exceeding greatness of God’s mercy. 


‘‘Bro. Campbell addressed the passengers on the morn- 
ing of Lord’s day, on which occasion Mrs. Hamilton and 
others testified their great satisfaction. Our voyage to 
Wheeling and Wellsburg was, I trust, both profitable and 
pleasing. At this latter place I sojourned for a night, un- 


148 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


der the roof of Dr. Campbell, a gentleman whose hospitality 
must ever be gratifying to the feelings of his guests. In 
the morning we proceeded to Bethany, where I spent an- 
other night. Hospitality, kindness, courtesy, and religion, 
are staple virtues there, and, during our brief stay, we partook 
of them in no ordinary degree. Next morning, returning to 
Wellsburg, we spent the day and night in the family of 
Dr. Grafton, my son according to the common faith, and 
in the morning, at an early hour, found myself once more 
in a steamer upon the bosom of la belle riviere, bound for 
Pittsburg, where, having next day arrived, we were most 
graciously received by brother Samuel Church, who soon found 
for us an easy and agreeable introduction to the brethren. 


‘‘Touching the Allegheny church there are many things 
to be admired. To each new convert, for example, is pre- 
sented, by an Elder, and accompanied with a solemn exhorta- 
tion to read and obey, a Polyglott copy of the Holy Scriptures. 
This is very striking. They also hold love-feasts, at which 
all who attend partake of some slight refreshment, converse 
freely, pray, and sing praises. This enables them to become 
personally acquainted with each other. Their overseer, dis- 
tinguished for every grace of faith and behavior, and as 
eminent for the munificence of his character as for his stain- 
less devotion to God, and to the Lord Jesus Christ, his blessed 
Master, is admirable for the great care and solicitude which 
he manifests for all the flock of God. 


‘“The deacons are also very reputable men, with a busi- 
ness talent, and very improvable withal. The elders and they, 
together, hold what they call a meeting of the presbytery 
every Monday evening, when the interests of the church are 
attended to, and the bread and state of the poor considered 
with great care and munificence. The overseer teaches the 
church for an hour on Lord’s day morning, before the 
proclamation of the gospel at eleven. The brethren speak 
to each other, and are interrogated by the bishop. This 
is both a profitable and pleasing exercise. Besides this class 
of the whole, Bro. Church assumes the arduous but pleasing 
task of instructing all the children of the congregation. On 
Monday afternoon, a great number of children recite each a 
chapter. Another class, composed of younger sisters, and, I 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 149 


believe, a third, of younger men, are all taught by this inde- 
fatigable guardian of the flock. If the world is to be con- 
verted, the saints also have to be fed and instructed; and it 
is as necessary that the first principles and privileges of the 
gospel be announced to the former, as that the commands, 
worship, and discipline, be taught to the latter. It is of 
great importance to preserve the equilibrium of good order, 
and to attend to both of these ordinances in a wise ratio. 
The church of Allegheny discreetly attends to both according 
to the means in her power; therefore, sinners are converted 
and saints instructed. The flock is at once fed and increased. 
The church of Allegheny is, upon the whole, in circumstances 
of the greatest comfort, and does, at present, present us with 
some of the fairest specimens of piety, and heavenly and 
divine character, that we have even seen, or ever expect to see 
on earth. 

‘*Eleven were added to the assembly during our visit, 
one of them a relation to Bro. Alexander Campbell, another 
a daughter of Mr. Church, a child of about nine or ten years 
of age. On the day after this latter was baptized, taking 
her father by the hand, and looking up in his face in the 
most innocent manner, with two big tears ready to drop 
from her eyes, she exclaimed; ‘Father, I do love Jesus 
Christ—I feel it in my heart.’ This offering to the goodness 
of the Lord was wholly voluntary. ‘Out of the mouths of 
babes and sucklings thou hast ordained praise,’ says the 
prophet. 

‘“After tasting of the greatest satisfaction—after the most 
blessed communion with the church, and especially with 
her overseer—after much speaking, with many prayers, and 
joy mingled with tears, and benedictions, and salutations, and 
thanks, and many favors, we were dismissed in peace from 
the hospitable mansion of the overseer of this flock, in which 
we had spent a few weeks; the joys of which seemed to atone 
for all the sufferings which many years’ labor had made 
us heir to. Thanks to God our Father, and to Jesus Christ 
our Lord. 

‘We now set out for the Western Reserve, to the ‘school 
of the preachers,’ a meeting got up a few years ago by 
some of the evangelists for their mutual improvement. Next 


150 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


morning, against the dawning of the day, we had reached 
Canfield, and soon after found ourselves under the hospitable 
roof of our faithful and worthy Bro. Miram Sackett. In the 
evening we reached Warren, the county seat of Trumbull, 
and the place in which the meeting was appointed to be held. 
The apostle Peter predicts, perhaps, of our own times, that 
scoffers would appear who should say, that ‘ail things con- 
tinued as they were from the beginning of the creation.’ It 
is very probable that the Divine Spirit had in his eye those 
infidel philosophers, namely, Hume, Gibbon, and Volney, whose 
favorite doctrine was a boasted ‘uniform experience.’ But 
although we cannot give in to the doctrines of these scoffers, 
yet we must avow that it would have been exceedingly pleasing 
to us, while approaching Warren, could we have known cer- 
tainly that all things continued in this country as we had 
left them eight years ago. Our apprehensions had thrown 
us into a melancholy which had lasted the entire day, and 
we had felt as if the righteous were all dead; we had watered 
the land with our tears. But our arrival in Warren dispelled 
our apprehensions by the appearance of almost all our former 
associates. Besides our numerous acquaintances, who had their 
residence in the town, many from the surrounding country, 
and even remote regions, were present at. the meeting; and 
we had the pleasure of seeing nearly all the evangelists of the 
land, namely, Brethren Atwater, Clapp, Rudolph, Hayden, 
Henry, Bosworth, Hartsel, Bentley, and many others. But 
such was the excitement on all sides, that two days had wholly 
past before I felt myself able to command my feelings. The 
sight of such a vast number of disciples, the chief of whom 
I had introduced into the kingdom of God with my own 
hands; the memory of their original courage and first love; 
the scorn which they endured while yet our views of the gospel 
were novel and misapprehended; their many tears, their con- 
trition, and our own fears and endurance for their sake; 
the sweet communion which was then enjoyed; their former 
experience, and their present evident fidelity to their pro- 
fession, the faces of all being perfectly known to me, con- 
spired together on the occasion to spur my feelings to the 
utmost, and to fill me with an indescribable sentiment of joy 
and wonder, mingled with a sprinkling of sorrow for those 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT Teg 


whom I perceived to be absent, either by death or removal to 
other countries, or by some other cause. 

‘‘The meeting was held from Friday evening till Thursday 
evening; and such was the urgency of the case, that we 
could not leave till Monday following. Bro. Bentley, alike 
‘gentle and easy to be entreated,’ abode with us, and truly 
we were in heavenly places in Christ. In all, thirteen were 
added to the disciples, and the meeting concluded. We again 
descended to the Ohio River, touched at Wellsbury, abode 
two days at Wheeling, and finding that the ice was accumulat- 
ing in the river, were compelled, in spite of our original in- 
tentions, to quit those regions where so many of our beloved 
brethren dwell; and, without seeing them, returned to our 
usual residence, Carthage, where we arrived after having been 
absent just two months.’’ 


In August of the same year, he received a letter 
from the Rev. J. B. Lucas, President of the Methodist 
Protestant Church, informing him that he fully sym- 
pathized with the views of the ‘Disciples,’ and wished 
to change his religious position so that he could freely 
preach what he firmly believed. He had for some 
time refused to baptize infants, as he held it to be 
unscriptural; and went so far as to refuse to admin- 
ister the ordinance to adults except by immersion; 
and though held in great esteem among his own 
people, on account of his abilities, which were of a 
high order, and the great success that had attended 
his labors, and enjoying the highest position known 
in that body, he felt that he could labor best with the 
people whose views he had been led to adopt. Elder 
Scott, in reply, informed him that there would be a 
General Meeting at Carthage early in September, and 
cordially invited him to be present. He accepted the 
invitation; was formally received by the brotherhood, 
and preached a number of discourses at Carthage 


152 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


making a deep impression upon the public mind, and 
persuading a number to turn from the error of their 
ways. Several other ministers of that, and other 
denominations, about that time, made a similar change, 
and were gladly welcomed by Scott as fellow-laborers. 


His visit to the Reserve the previous year, so far 
from satisfying the brethren there, only increased 
their desire to have him among them again, and 
earnest and tender epistles urging him to return were 
frequent. One of these, from the beloved Bro. Bent- 
ley, was as follows: 


‘*My DEAR BROTHER SCOTT: 


‘‘This letter leaves me and my family in usual health, 
for which I cannot sufficiently express the gratitude due to 
our adorable heavenly Father. We hope it goes to find 
you and family in the enjoyment of the same blessing. I 
write this letter by request of your numerous friends, who 
are anxious to see you, and who anticipate a gratification 
of their wishes, the Lord willing, on the Friday preceding 
the first Lord’s day in November, at one o’clock, P.M. We 
feel as though we could, with propriety, solicit a personal 
interview with Bro. Campbell and yourself. Knowing that 
your presence and labors will create a desire in others to 
read your works, and in reading, to find assistance how to 
understand God’s method of saving sinners, as recorded in 
his holy Word. We also feel as though we had a special 
claim upon yourself, as this part of the country is the field 
you first occupied, and where God honored you as the restorer 
of the ancient gospel. You can never forget New Lisbon 
and Warren, those places where it commenced and whence it 
sounded out and has spread into every quarter of our globe. 
It is a great consolation to me when I reflect that God 
honored me with being your companion in labor at that 
time; and to associate me with you and the venerable Thomas 
Campbell, who came to your assistance, and who labored so 
indefatigably for five months, and bore with us the con- 
tradiction of sinners. JI shall never forget the battle we 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 153 


fought at Sharon, on the Shenango; nor will you forget the 
tears which ran down the manly cheek of father Campbell, 
when he beheld the distraction of the church of God, and 
the rejection of the lambs of Christ by the Baptists, because 
they would not renounce their respect for us who had been 
instrumental in converting them from sin and sectarianism, 
to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. 


‘¢Shall it be that, at our November meeting, we shall be 
deprived, in this part of the State, where the gospel was 
restored, of the presence of father Campbell, Alexander, Bro. 
Rains, and yourself? I trust not. Bro. Alexander has gone 
to the South, the Lord will be with him; father Campbell 
to Kentucky; Bro. Rains has not been here for many years. 
Bro. Scott, then, will come, life and health permitting. Blessed 
be God. Now, Bro. Scott, do not let ordinary circumstances 
prevent your coming.’’ 


Such an invitation, penned by such a person, to go 
to a place where hundreds, through his labors, had 
been brought to God through the gospel, aroused all 
the tender and godly anxiety of his heart. He realized 
that these brethren looked on him much as the 
Galatians did upon Paul, and, that like them, if need 
were, would pluck out their eyes and give them to 
him as proof of their affectionate regard; and though 
many obstacles were in the way, he set them all aside, 
saying: “I must see them, and they must see me; 
nothing short of this will please either of the parties.” 
He went, and again his visit was a blessing to them, 
and a joy to him. This was repeated many times, and 
the only sad thing at all these reunions was the sorrow 
of parting. 


CHAPTER XX 


MINENT as Scott was as a preacher, his ideal 

was far above his own best endeavors. Indeed, 
there were times when he felt himself to be deficient 
in the elements which are necessary to a successful | 
oral exhibition of the truth; for, while others were 
admiring his power in the pulpit, and wishing that a 
portion of that power were their own, he thought so 
highly of what a preacher should be, and so humbly 
of his own efforts, as to write of himself: “I am at 
present in this large city, Cincinnati, and not being 
endowed by nature with those high gifts of reasoning 
and eloquence, which are so necessary to please and 
instruct, I have resolved, by the help of the Lord, to 
avail myself of the advantages afforded by the press 
for advocating and disseminating the principles and 
science of eternal life.” 


Any thing like failures in the pulpit he dreaded; 
and when under the influence of that feeling would 
open his discourse as follows: “Brethren and fellow- 
citizens: In all cases of public speaking, in the forum, 
at the bar, or in the pulpit, what is attempted should 
be done with power. Weakness is nearly allied to 
failure which admits not of apology, for audiences do 
not assemble to be tortured, wearied, disappointed, but 
instructed, persuaded, delighted. You are present 
this evening to hear of Jesus and the great redemp- 
tion, and I to address you on these solemn and de- 
lightful themes. Tremblingly alive to the responsibil- 
ities of the occasion, I may be pardoned if, in view 
of them, I exclaim with the holy apostle, ‘Who is 
sufficient for these things?’ David says, “When I 


154 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 155 


called upon thee, thou answeredst me, and strength- 
enedst me with strength in my soul.’ If distrust in 
my own powers impels me to place a higher reliance 
on God, my humility shall not hurt me. Pray for me, 
then, dear audience, that he who faints not, neither is 
weary, may strengthen me with all might by his 
Spirit in the inner man; that I may, with all saintsje 
comprehend the heights and depths, and length and 
breadth, and know the love of Christ that passeth 
knowledge; that I may be filled with all the fullness 
of God; that I may open my mouth as I ought; and 
to him be eternal praises.” 

At other times, while earnestly desiring to profit 
his hearers, he would neither conceal from them, nor 
himself, the high standard which they should erect, 
and which he should aim to reach; making the ordeal 
most difficult by arousing a critical spirit on the part 
of the audience, and yet stimulating his own powers 
by the magnitude of the work before him, an in- 
stance of which we subjoin: 

“To meet all the conditions of a fortunate address 
is exceedingly difficult. The speaker must think cor- 
rectly and extensively; he must employ words that 
precisely sift out the sense; he must reason, for a 
speech without reasoning is like a song without a 
theme; he must illustrate, and, withal, adorn; but he 
must not be uncharitable, nor severe, nor sophistical, 
nor profuse, nor gaudy in the use of the graces and 
charms of his rhetoric; for good taste, the maxims 
and usages, the manners and customs of educated 
society forbid it. He must, therefore, steer clear of 
these unsocial annoyances, unless he would incur, un- 
necessarily, public odium, and make himself the target 
of severe, but not unmerited, censure. 


156 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


“The theme on which he speaks must be a worthy 
one, deserving the public ear; and in a manner most 
worthy too, must he meet it. He must clearly dis- 
criminate between his subject, as the essential, and its 
surroundings, which are incidental; and fully develop 
and fairly discuss, to the improvement and delight of 
his audience, its class and characteristics, its parts 
and relations, its uses and abuses. May he, who 
spake as never man spake, anoint at once with his 
grace and power our lips and heart; and to him shall 
be all the praise of a successful address.” 

And yet the natural bent of his genius was in the 
direction of oratory, and in his most impassioned, 
and almost inspired moments, he would reach a 
beauty, dignity, and warmth of expression, which 
never visited him in his cooler efforts in his study 
with the pen. To the humble views, however, which 
he entertained of himself, we are indebted for some 
most admirable productions, which shall long endure, 
distinguished by clear analysis, felicity of expression, 
tenderness of sentiment, and close, vigorous thought. 

But, to return. His ideal of a preacher was, one 
who made Christ ever the central thought and in- 
spiration of his discourse; one who dealt not so much 
with the doctrines of Christ as with Christ himself; 
one whose chief business was to point sinners to the 
Lamb of God. And yet it is doubtful, whether any 
uninspired man ever came nearer this model than he 
himself unconsciously did. Christ, his nature, offices, 
and work, were his chief—his almost constant themes 
the alpha and omega, the all in all. 

He was as far removed as possible from what we 
understand by a sensational preacher; his great re- 
liance was upon the gospel as the power of God unto 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 157 


the salvation of every one that believed; and to get 
that gospel clearly before the minds of his hearers, 
and Christ the great theme of that gospel, as the 
one altogether lovely, into their hearts, was the end 
and aim of every discourse. He had studied the 
holy Scriptures until he had made even their very 
language his own; the teachings of the Savior he 
regarded as the good seed of the kingdom, and he 
sought to sow that in every heart. When he rose 
before an audience it was to deliver the message 
which Christ had given in charge to his apostles; and 
he was careful to note how they had discharged their 
mission, and aimed to imitate them. Of no preacher, 
of modern times, could it be said with greater truth, 
“he preached Christ unto them.” He, always, first 
appealed to the judgment, and when he thought 
enough had been said to produce conviction, he used, 
with great power, the motives of the gospel to in- 
duce to action; the promises, to allure; the threaten- 
ings, to alarm; and, with a pathos rising from a 
realizing sense of the danger of his hearers, he would, 
often with tears, beseech them to accept the offered 
grace. 


He was accustomed to go to Christ rather than to 
the apostles—to draw from the Evangelists rather 
than the Epistles. He was, emphatically, a gospel 
preacher, one who entertained a very special regard 
for the writings of the Evangelists. He says of them: 
“These form the ground-work of our faith in Chris- 
tianity; they contain the immediate evidence of its 
divine origin; they are the pillars and the gate-way 
of the holy temple; the bulwarks of the new insti- 
tution, and citadel of the Christian religion, which 
have withstood the shock of the heaviest ordinance and 


158 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


artillery from the heaviest batteries of all our enemies 
since the age began. Our children should be made to 
suck them in with their.mother’s milk; and our Evan- 
gelists repeat them with alphabetical correctness and 
facility. Most worthy are they to be studied and un- 
derstood, and I am not ashamed to confess for them 
my special regard. I am not ashamed to acknowledge 
that twice a week for twenty-two months at a stretch 
have I discoursed on the Evangelist Matthew, alone. 
It is by these divine narratives the Christian religion 
is to spread, because by them, alone, the world can 
be assured that Jesus is the Christ; it is in them the 
proclaimer must search for the themes which win the 
souls of men; there it is the Lord is exhibited in 
proper form. His birth, his public ministry, his en- 
trance upon the same at Jordan, his miracles, his 
doctrine, his defense of himself as the Messiah of 
God, his temptations, moral virtues, prodigious and 
incomprehensible wisdom, his divine nature, his trial, 
condemnation, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, 
and glorification are all there; but, indeed, the en- 
lightened Evangelist will perceive that every page, 
every miracle, every thing in these glorious oracles 
open, to the proclaimer of the gospel, an infinitely 
various and brilliant field for the instruction of the 
world. If any man would work faith in his audience, 
let him give his days and nights, and weeks and 
years, to the study of the Evangelists.” 

That his theory with regard to the true method 
of preaching was correct, was frequently and fully 
demonstrated by the numerous conversions by which 
his labors were attended. For a period of over thirty 
years, few men had greater success as an Evangelist 
than he; as many as one hundred converts within a 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 159 


month was not unusual, and, on some occasions, 
nearly that number in a few days; and he often 
baptized the converts with his own hands. 

Another meeting in Kentucky is thus noticed: 
“We mention this success only because it occurred 
in connection with the preaching of ‘the appearance 
and kingdom’ of our Lord Jesus Christ to his peo- 
ple. We lately labored seventeen days and nights in 
succession at Minerva, Mason County, Kentucky. 
A series of lectures on the second advent took a 
very sensible effect on the disciples, and seemed to 
have no small influence even upon the world; for 
when we changed our theme and substituted the 
cross for the crown—the things of faith for those of 
hope, fifty persons, first and last, believed and were 
immersed.” 


He returned in a short time to the same field, and 
the joint labors of himself and others were crowed 
with great success—fifty more persons being gathered 
into the fold. Several years after, he writes from 
Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky: 


‘‘T am just now in Versailles. The excitement is very 
great. After filling an appointment at Dover, and another 
at Beasley’s Creek, where I had a very great audience, and 
where the church embraces many well-tutored saints, and 
has an eldership of great value in Christ Jesus, I proceeded 
to Paris, toward Lexington; but hearing, at the former place, 
that a meeting was in progress at Union, I turned aside 
and spent the night under the hospitable roof of the be- 
loved in Christ, Elder J. Gano. Next morning this ex- 
cellent brother, with his lady, the meekest of women, were 
to go to Georgetown, so that I had the pleasure of jour- 
neying thither in their company. A protracted meeting had 
just closed at Georgetown, but on my arrival it was re- 


160 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCO1T'T 


opened, and Bro. James Challen, greatly beloved in the Lord, 
coming on at this opportune moment, nineteen accessions 
were made to the church there. Blessed be God. I visited 
Midway with the hope of spending the Lord’s day in sweet 
enjoyment there, in company with Doctor Pinkerton, the 
zealous in the Lord, and the church of God in that place; 
but the rain was so great and continuous that the brethren 
could not even assemble. I returned to Lexington, and after- 
ward addressed the brethren in that city. | 


‘‘T also filled an appointment at Union, where our peo- 
ple and the Baptists have worked with such diligence as 
to leave Evangelists almost nothing to do. This church em- 
bodies many of the excellent of the earth. Her sons are 
great and excellent spirits, renowned for purity and gener- 
osity. Midway and New Union are very famous for doing 
good. 


‘*A meeting was in progress at Versailles. The brethren 
were pleased to invite me to aid. I was forced to meet 
their wishes. The excitement is very great. I have preached 
and spoken three times a day for one week. And, thanks 
to our God in Christ Jesus, thirty have already made the good 
confession. Men are coming in from the distance of seven 
miles to meeting, even by night. Old impenitent sinners, who 
have not been seen at meeting for seven years before, have 
found their way into the assembly, and several, notorious 
for their evil doings have been reclaimed. Even the eloquent 
orator, Thomas Marshall, has felt the excitement, and found 
out the power of the Lord. He was present last evening, 
and lent his devout attention to my discourse. He even 
came up from the remotest corner of the house, where he 
had ensconced himself during the preachment, and stood 
boldly by the side of the pulpit. He even asked to have 
the humble speaker pointed out to him, and, as the ex- 
hortation proceeded, advanced into the very front ranks of 
the lookers-on. O that the truth—the love of God to man— 
the blood of the cross may have touched his heart—his elo- 
quent, but misguided heart. If he forget what he heard, 
he is less than a true-hearted man; but he has expressed this 
morning, I have been told, his admiration of the last night’s 
development. ’’ 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 161 


But a short time before this, nineteen were added 
at Georgetown, and, soon after the meeting at Ver- 
sailles, between thirty and forty at Grassy Springs. 
At this period, 1847, it was not unusual for him to 
preach twice and even three times per day for weeks 
in succession. Within two years of the close of his 
life, when over sixty years of age, he wrote: “I 
have just returned from a galloping excursion into 
Garrard County; twenty accessions were made to 
the good cause, and I have immediately to return 
thither.” Two weeks after this he writes: ‘God, 
the living God, is not an idol of gold, or silver, 
or brass, or wood, or stone, but the true God, and 
our everlasting King. My life has been, and by his 
help, shall be, devoted to the glory of his name. A 
few days ago, by stage and railroad, I traveled seventy 
miles, and ate no meat from two o’clock in the morn- 
ing till five in the evening, and after supper had to 
address an audience waiting for me. ‘Twelve persons 
have already presented themselves to the Lord. I 
am, thank the Lord Jesus Christ, now recovered from 
fatigue, and more animated in the preaching of the 
Word, than at any former period of my life. I know 
that the weakness, incident to age must overtake me, 
if I live, but as yet I am as strong in every respect 
as I ever was.” The above, which might be indefin- 
itely extended, may serve to indicate the extent and 
success of his labors, as well the chief themes of his 
public addresses; but his style and manner as a 
preacher have not yet been told. 


CHAPTER XXI 


HE names of Alexander Campbell and Walter 
Scott will ever be linked together, as workers, 
true and earnest, in the same noble cause; and one 
will as readily suggest the other, as the name of 
Luther calls up that of Melancthon, or Wesley’s that 
of Whitefield. In no sense were they rivals, any more 
than Moses and Aaron, or Paul and Silas; but like 
them, with different gifts, devoting their lives to the 
accomplishment of the same glorious end. Camp- 
bell was always great and self-possessed; Scott sub- 
ject to great depression, and, consequently, unequal 
in his public efforts; but at times he knew a rapture, 
which seemed almost inspiration, to which the former 
was a stranger. Campbell never fell below the ex- 
pectation of his hearers, Scott frequently did; but 
there were times when he rose to a height of elo- 
quence which the former never equaled. If Camp- 
bell at times reminded his hearers of Paul on Mars 
Hill, commanding the attention of the assembled wis- 
dom of Athens; Scott, in his happiest moments, 
seemed more like Peter on the memorable Pentecost, 
with the cloven tongue of flame on his head, and the 
inspiration of the Spirit of Truth in his heart, while 
from heart-pierced sinners on every side rose the 
agonizing cry, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 
Few men have convinced more skeptics of the 
folly of unbelief, than Alexander Campbell. Multi- 
tudes of men, confused by the discords and distrac- 
tions of religious parties, have learned from his teach- 
ing that there is a more excellent way than that taught 
by the mere sect or party, and, being satisfied that 


162 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 163 


he taught the way of God in truth, have walked in 
it; and yet, though he thus won many to Christ, 
some of whom have, in turn, been the happy instru- 
ments of bringing hundreds and thousands to the 
Savior, he never moved the hearts of the masses in 
his public addresses, as did Walter Scott. I have 
heard them both, frequently, before ordinary congre- 
gations, and assemblies of from three to ten thousand. 
I never listened to any man who could hold the atten- 
tion of an audience longer and better than Alexander 
Campbell, and send away his hearers so delighted 
and instructed. Walter Scott, on ordinary, and even 
on great occasions, would often fail to fix the atten- 
tion of his hearers; of this he was painfully con- 
scious, and would express it by saying the smile of the 
Lord was not on him; but when he enjoyed that smile 
he seemed almost inspired, and his audience wholly 
entranced. Oh! how lovely he could make Christ 
appear; how dark and cruel man’s ingratitude! Oh! 
how he could paint the vileness of sin, and the in- 
finite compassion of him who died for our sins! 
How he could portray the woe of the lost, and the 
bliss of the saved; of heaven the glory and of hell 
the gloom; and with what earnest and affectionate 
tenderness he would entreat and beseech lost sinners 
to be reconciled to God. 

Campbell addressed himself mainly to the under- 
standing of his hearers, and was, confessedly, one of 
the ablest controversialists of his day; Scott did not 
forget that the mind must be enlightened, and the 
judgment convinced, and few men were clearer or 
more convincing in their exhibitions of truth; but 
when that was accomplished he drove right at the 
heart. 


164 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Scott was about middle height, quite erect, well 
formed, easy and graceful in all his movements;' his 
hair black and glossy, even to advanced age; he had 
piercing black eyes, which seemed at one time to 
burn, at another, to melt; his face was a remarkable 
one, the saddest, or gladdest, as melancholy or joy pre- 
vailed; his voice was one of the richest I ever heard, 
suited to the expression of every emotion of the soul— 
and when his subject took full possession of him, 
he was an orator. I have heard Bascom, and Stock- 
ton, and many other gifted ministers, but none to 
compare with him; he stands alone. 

Scott’s power, however, was over the hearts of 
men, and of the masses; his dark eyes seemed to 
penetrate the secrets of the soul, and his voice was 
soothing or terrible as he gave utterance to the prom- 
ises or threatenings of the Word of God. Multitudes 
were awakened under his preaching to the peril of 
their souls, and pointed successfully to the Lamb of 
God, and, on some occasions, bitter enemies, and vio- 
lent persecutors were changed, almost as suddenly 
as Saul of Tarsus, and became not only faithful 
Christians, but firm and life-long friends of the 
preacher whom they once had threatened and reviled. 

Campbell’s greatness and strength may, in a great 
measure, be realized by a careful study of his writ- 
ings; but the noblest efforts of his worthy fellow- 
laborer, as far as the expression is concerned, per- 
ished, almost at their birth, they could not be repro- 
duced by either speaker or hearer; the impression 
made on the minds and hearts of those who heard 
him, will never fade until all things else shall fade. 
But the tablets on which those memories dear and 
sweet are written, are perishable, and when the pres- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 165 


ent generation passes, or, rather, when the remnant 
of those who heard him in his prime which yet lin- 
gers shall have passed away, the world will not know 
any thing, save by dim and imperfect tradition, of 
the wonderful eloquence of this gifted, this princely 
man. 


CHAPTER XXII 


R. SCOTT was not of a temperament that would 

permit him to be unaffected by the civil, po- 
litical, and moral questions of his day; on all of 
them he had convictions which he was ready at all 
proper times to express, but he ever held those con- 
victions in subordination to the great religious ques- 
tions which it was the great business of his life to 
investigate, set forth, and defend. In politics he was 
a democrat, but he never permitted himself to be 
drawn into the petty intrigues and issues of party 
strife, and while he had a very high admiration of the 
great men of that party from Jefferson to Jackson, 
of the former for his statesmanship, and of the latter 
for his energy and decision, he did not withhold his 
admiration of the men and measures of the opposite 
party, when both were often such, that as a patriot, 
if not as a partisan, he could warmly approve. 
Although a foreigner by birth, he was a great lover 
of free institutions, and was proud of his citizenship, 
and none the less so because it was his deliberate 
choice, rather than a birthright. He once said to an 
intimate friend: “I remember distinctly the moment 
that I became an American citizen in heart; it was 
not when I went through the forms of the laws of 
naturalization, but on the occasion of my meeting 
with a procession headed by a band playing the na- 
tional air, and bearing the national banner; inspired 
by the strain as I looked on the national emblem, I 
felt that under that flag, and for it, if need be, I could 
die, and I felt at that moment that I was in feeling, 
as well as in law, an American citizen, that that 


166 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 167 


flag was my flag, and that this country was my 
country.” 

The temperance question was one of the great 
issues of his times; he not only warmly approved 
of the movement when set on foot, but he, in a meas- 
ure, anticipated it, and gave his testimony against 
the use of strong drink when public sentiment was 
in its favor, and the practice almost universal. Every 
family that could afford it, had its side-board, and one 
of the first rites of hospitality was to invite the 
guest to drink, and his departure was attended by the 
same ceremony as the greeting. It was not at all 
unministerial for the preacher to take some of that 
kind of comfort before starting to his appointment 
some miles away, nor to repeat it on reaching the 
scene of his labors before the sermon began. Preach- 
ers even could engage in the manufacture of whisky 
without compromising their character; there was as 
little disgrace in running a still-house as in managing 
a grist-mill. Into this feeling, however, Elder Scott 
never entered, and, on one occasion, after stopping 
over night with a preaching brother who was the 
proprietor of a distillery, he gave him a solemn ad- 
monition upon the subject and closed by advising 
him to abandon the business, with the words, “Let 
the devil boil his own tea-kettle, my brother, and do 
you preach the gospel.” 

He would also warn the people against the com- 
mon practice of furnishing liquor freely to workmen 
in harvest time, urging that it was ruinous in the ex- 
treme. The church at Carthage, which was planted 
by his labors, at an early period of its history was 
induced to take strong ground against intemperance. 
This was done by the passage of a resolution to the 


168 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


effect that she would have no Christian communion 
with those who used liquor, or with any one who 
should sell wine or strong drink, except for medicine 
or the Lord’s Supper. This course, brought about 
by his influence and teaching, was very gratifying, 
and he expressed his pleasure at the action taken by 
the church as follows: “This is exceedingly proper, 
for how can evangelists stand up to plead with a 
community to obey the gospel, and receive the Holy 
Spirit, when others, with the name of Christ upon 
them, stand behind their counters, and make the 
hearts of the people mad with wine and ardent spir- 
its? The churches have need to cleanse their hands 
of sin, the coming of the Lord draws nigh.” 

He fully sympathized with the various temperance 
organizations, and gave all the aid in his power to 
their efforts for the suppression of this monster evil, 
which like a fearful deluge had overwhelmed both pew 
and pulpit, and threatened to sweep away every virtue 
and every relic of righteousness. He had no fears 
that the church would suffer by its members allying 
themselves with the Sons of Temperance and similar 
orders, as he thought that no evil could result to re- 
ligion from virtuous practices. 

But the great question of the day was that of 
slavery, and was to him, in common with others, one 
of unbounded extent, interest, and perplexity. He 
was often called upon to define his position in regard 
to it, and frequently did so with pen and tongue in 
public and private. He inclined to the views of 
the colonizationists, rather than those of the abolli- 
tionists, as the former proposed to return the eman- 
cipated blacks to their own country, while the latter 
demanded their instant and absolute liberation, with- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 169 


out proposing any means, in his view, by which both 
master and slave might be able to bear the change 
with the least injury. There were difficulties in any 
view of the case; he felt, with the wisest and best 
men in the nation, that it was an increasing and in- 
tolerable evil, and yet difficulties seemed to beset 
every method of solving it which had been proposed. 
At one time he wrote: “The manumission of our 
slave population can be accomplished now only by a 
means which heaven alone knows—I know it not’; 
and then adds, “I am no friend to slavery, I depre- 
cate its commencement, I deplore its continuance, and 
tremble for its issue; but I am silent because I think 
to speak would be folly. What ought to be said 
I can not say, and what ought not to be said, I will 
not say.” His language is that of perplexity, not 
of timidity; and this perplexity was shared in a 
greater or less degree by the most eminent men in 
the nation; none of them had fallen upon a solution 
of the then difficult problem—which never was easy 
of solution until solved—but that he did not live 
to see. 

The state of perplexity, to which allusion has been 
made, did not arise from any doubts as to the nature 
and tendency of slavery, but wholly from the diff- 
culty of getting rid of it; and yet this state of mind, 
for which there was abundant reason, gave rise to 
his being called, by a radical and impulsive brother, 
“an apologist for slavery.” To this charge he re- 
plied as follows: “Be not surprised, my brother, if I 
ask where the root of the evil is to be found, and 
whether slavery is to be associated originally and 
radically with the Church, or with the State. When 
men would kill a tree they do not lop off a few of the 


170 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


uppermost boughs as you would, but strike a blow at 
the root. You are on the house-top. I wish to feel 
around the foundations, to grapple with the pillars, 
and to know the length and strength of the things 
on which the fabric is raised. It is radically a state 
question, and slavery might exist in the Union even 
after every disciple of the true gospel had exercised 
his individual right and freed his slaves on the spot. 
I assert, then, that the government, and not the 
church of Christ, is to be blamed for slavery. She did 
not originate it, she did not propose it, she did not 
desire it, and she cannot annul it. Hence, slavery is 
radically a political and not a religious evil. You 
have so mistaken the state of the case, or the ques- 
tion, that you have dared me to a viva voce defense 
of slavery as practiced in the United States! I will 
not defend slavery in any State; it is a political evil, 
and to defend it would be like defending evil of any 
other kind. The fact is, the government must be 
made to act in this affair if we would cure it, and all 
attempts to remove the disease by any other means 
is so much time lost.” This was written some thirty 
years before emancipation came, but it was effected, 
as he had said, by the government; the only power, 
in his judgment, that could remove it. 

Apart, however, from the great work of religious 
reformation, nothing occupied more of his attention 
than the subject of education. A thorough scholar, an 
eminently successful teacher, and at all times a close 
student, he was well prepared to speak on this im- 
portant theme. 

For a short period he acted as president of Bacon 
College, Kentucky, and it was, doubtless, his connec- 
tion with his institution that brought him promi- 
nently and favorably before the friends of education 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT ral 


in the West. The College of Teachers and Western 
Literary Institute, which met at Cincinnati, embraced 
among its members some of the ablest men of the 
period, many of whom have since achieved a national 
and even a world-wide reputation. Among them were 
Samuel Lewis, Dr. Daniel Drake, Joseph Ray, the 
author of the well known series of arithmetics and 
algebras, which have found a place in nearly every 
school and college in the land. Prof. McGuffey, Alex. 
Campbell, Bishop (now Archbishop) Purcell, A. Kin- 
mont, an accomplished scholar, critic, and author; and 
Dr. Calvin E. Stowe, Professor of Sacred Literature 
in Lane Seminary, and son-in-law of Dr. Lyman 
Beecher, and husband of Harriet Beecher Stowe, of 
Uncle Tom’s Cabin fame. By this association Walter 
Scott was invited to address them at their anniversary 
in the autumn of 1837, an invitation which any man, 
at that time, might have regarded as a compliment. 

He afterward wrote at length upon this subject, 
and threw much light upon educational science. He 
anticipated many of the wants of society in this par- 
ticular, and education has since that time been ad- 
vancing in the path which he pointed out. He greatly 
favored teaching by experiment rather than by rote; 
he deemed it better to address the eye by objects, 
and collections of specimens from every department 
of natural history, than to address the ear, as was 
then the custom, by a recital of their names and 
properties. He saw, too, that in a country, and under 
a government like ours, a system different from that 
of the old world was needed, a system peculiarly 
national; and, above all, he insisted upon uniting 
moral with literary and scientific culture. Nor were 
his labors in vain, and he is worthy to be regarded 
for his toil, in this field, as a public benefactor. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


OR several years after Scott came before the 

people with his plea for, the restoration of the 
primitive gospel, public discussions were frequent. 
Wherever he or his fellow-laborers came, the whole 
community was thrown into a ferment, which was 
but the natural result of views so long unquestioned 
being assailed and brought into doubt, and others, 
new and strange, presented and enforced with rare 
ability. But this was not all, the new views were 
readily adopted by many who had long rejected the 
orthodox views as contradictory; and even many of 
those who had previously accepted them fell in with 
the teaching of the men whom they regarded at first 
as turning the world upside down. 

This, more than all things else, aroused the leaders 
of the various religious parties to the defense of their 
long-cherished doctrines, and caused them to forget, 
for a season, their old rivalries, and unite against the 
Disciples whom they regarded as a common foe. 

Prior to this time, the contest had been between 
the partisans of the different and conflicting creeds— 
Calvinism against its opposite, Arminianism; Uni- 
versalism against Partialism, or universal redemption 
against particular redemption; sovereign and irre- 
sistible grace on one side, and free will on the other. 
Faith alone, against faith and works, and numberless 
other points of difference, exercised the skill and zeal 
of the various religious teachers, each of which was 
like a faithful watchman on the walls of his own little 
Zion, quick to perceive, and ready to repel any dan- 
ger that might threaten, and equally ready to assail 
the weak points of the foe. 

172 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 173 


Possessed, as Elder Scott was, of great learning, 
as well as of great and various talents, it is some- 
what remarkable that he took but little part in the 
numerous discussions of the day which grew out of 
the plea which he was the first to advocate with such 
marked ability and success. He was not fond of 
controversy, although his preaching did much to 
provoke it, as it was in direct conflict with the 
prevalent religious teaching of the times; but he was 
so guarded and careful in his public addresses that 
those who differed from him were under the necessity 
of opposing, not a new theory or system of the 
preacher’s differing from and subversive of their 
own, but were compelled to deny what the Scriptures 
expressly affrmed. He was often interrupted and 
rudely assailed during his public ministrations; and 
at such times his answers were so ready, so much to 
the purpose, and, withal, in such a meek and gentle 
spirit, that he scarcely ever failed to leave a good im- 
pression on those who were present; and, during his 
long editorial career, whenever his views were called 
in question, he was always able to thrust or parry, 
as he was on the offensive or defensive, with a skill 
and temper truly admirable—and yet he was not a 
controversialist. 

This peculiarity, for such it doubtless was, when the 
spirit of investigation, which was everywhere aroused 
by his preaching, is considered, arose not from any 
want of the logical and critical faculty, for few men 
of modern times have given better evidence of the 
possession of such power than he; but the per- 
sonalities, and the desire for victory, apart from the 
interests of truth, were distasteful in the highest de- 
gree to his truthful and sensitive nature. He loved 


174 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


to preach the glad tidings, as found in the gospel 
message, more than disputation; to call sinners to re- 
pentance, more than to triumph over an adversary; 
he was willing to leave his views to the fate they 
deserved, well knowing that if true they could not 
be overthrown, and without a wish for their success 
if they were otherwise than true. 

Discussion, however, in those times was not only 
needful and beneficial, but unavoidable; rendered so 
by the revolutionary nature of his plea for an aban- 
donment of all that was modern,: new, and of human 
device in religion, and a return to that which was 
ancient, old, and divine. ‘The times demanded men 
of war, and such were many of his fellow-laborers ; 
and, indeed, nearly all the preachers in the early 
period of this movement, like the Jews who came 
from captivity to restore the temple, were obliged to 
defend from the violence of their enemies the walls 
they were striving to uprear. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


BOUT 1840, the name by which the people 

should be known who had been gathered to- 
gether by the labors of Campbell and Scott began to 
be an important question. Hitherto they had been 
known as Reformed Baptists or Reformers, Disciples, 
Campbellites, and at an early stage of the movement, 
in some localities where Scott labored, they were 
termed Scottites. This use of his name Elder Scott 
publicly rebuked by calling one who had made ship- 
wreck of his faith a Scottite. The necessity of having 
one name as the body increased in numbers be- 
came manifest, and, as points of difference in other 
matters had been settled by the Word of God, it was 
supposed that this also could be decided in the same 
way. Modern names, of course, made no figure in 
the discussion, as they were given by the other par- 
ties, and were rather nicknames than otherwise, and 
never had been acknowledged by those to whom they 
were given, and the choice was soon narrowed down 
to two—namely: Disciples of Christ and Christians. 
For the former Mr. Campbell contended, while Scott 
thought that stronger reasons could be urged in favor 
of the latter. Mr. Campbell regarded the name ‘‘Dis- 
ciples of Christ’? as preferable on several accounts, 
but the reasons which doubtless weighed most with 
him were, that the name Christian had been appro- 
priated by a people who were regarded as denying 
the divinity of Christ, and that no religious denomi- 
nation would ever consent to its being worn by the 
new party, as it would be a reflection on themselves 
for having abandoned it for some other. 


175 


176 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Elder Scott was of the opinion that to call Bible 
things and persons by Bible names was a correct 
principle, whether other parties would admit and prac- 
tice it or not, and thought that they would be as likely 
to object to the name “Disciples of Christ” as to 
the name Christian; that the latter meant all that 
the former did, and even more, being a more exten- 
sive term, and better than any or all others describ- 
ing the relation of the saint to the Savior. He, more- 
over, urged that the word “Disciple” was not a proper 
name at all, but a common noun, and hence but a 
relative designation, like brethren, children, saints, and 
that as the Holy Scriptures inform us that “the dis- 
ciples were named Christians,’ no other name could 
be lawful or necessary. He likewise argued from 
the language of Agrippa to Paul, “almost thou 
persuadest me to be a Christian,” that the apostle was 
persuading men to become Christians, and that the 
commendation of the church at Pergamos, “Thou 
holdest fast my name,” and the similar one to the 
church at Philadelphia, “Thou hast not denied my 
name,’ sanctioned the use of the name Christian. 
“Tt is,” said he, “a royal name, if we retain and honor 
it, and we cannot honor it unless we retain it.” He 
gave also a fine analysis of the passage in Acts xi: 
26: “The disciples were called Christians first in 
Antioch,” arguing that the name was given by Bar- 
nabas and Paul by divine authority and direction, and 
showed, by the admission of the greatest names in 
theology, that, in opposition to the practice of the 
various churches which they represented, the mem- 
bers of the primitive church were known everywhere 
as Christians. He also introduced the well-known 
fact, that, when the followers of Jesus were brought 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 177 


before the pagan magistrates in the days of the per- 
secuting emperors, the question proposed to each one 
was, “Are you a Christian?” and that to own this 
name was a capital crime; and in his mind it was a 
name not only taken from that of the Master, and 
descriptive, as no other was, of the pardoned sinner’s 
relation to him, but also one that bore the seal of the 
blood of the martyrs. 


During the winter of 1841-42, Elder Scott spent 
some three months in the East, visiting successively 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. He gives 
the following account of his journey over the Alle- 
ghany Mountains, and the truly warm and primitive 
Christian reception he met with at his journey’s end: 


‘‘Friday morning being snowy, and the passengers for 
the East numerous, each stowed himself away in his respective 
seat in the stage the best and warmest way he might, and 
late in the evening of the same day we all reached the foot 
of the Alleghanies, and began amidst a snow-storm to ascend 
the mountains. Our stage broke down, but without damage 
to the passengers. Here I may just note that perhaps never 
was it before the fortune of a poor Christian to be pent up 
in the same small space with an equal number of more im- 
moral and irreligious persons than was the writer in this stage. 
They were utterly abominable, and we bore till patience ceased 
to be a virtue. Lord Bacon says that ‘certainly virtue is like 
precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed or 
crushed.’ We felt ourself, after a certain length of time, 
incensed or crushed, or, as his lordship means, bruised and 
burnt by their guilty and irreligious behavior, and we could 
restrain the savor of our religion no longer. As the apostle 
commands, we rebuked them sharply, but in a tone, and 
temper, and measure so suited to the occasion, as, without 
giving offense, to leave them rather crest-fallen. Fain would 
two or more of the oldest and boldest of them have rebelled, 
but the hammer, and fire, and flaming sword of the Spirit 
of God, not imprudently nor unskillfully applied, proved more 


178 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


than a match for their carnal courage, and the whole were 
ultimately subdued to silence. In spite of storms and other 
casualties by steamboat, stage, and steam cars, we all ar- 
rived safe in the city of Baltimore, early on the 20th of 
December, for which we had a thousand reasons to bless our 
good and gracious God. 


‘‘From the Exchange Hotel we repaired to the hospitable 
domicil of our brother in faith and spirit Alexander Reed, 
and certainly never was man by man or brother by brother 
received in a manner more congenial with the spirit and 
precept of primitive Christianity than we by him. ‘Simon,’ 
said our great and glorious Master to a certain Pharisee, 
‘I entered into thine house, and thou gavest me no water for 
my feet—thou gavest me no kiss.’ Not so with this man 
of God—this disciple of Christ. He embraced us, kissed us, 
and graciously washed our feet. Before we commenced this 
journey, we had campaigned it for a series of weeks to- 
gether; had lifted from the bosom of the Ohio River twenty 
converts at a time, with our own hands; and, enfeebled in 
body and exhausted in mind, had seen a hundred happy 
citizens born into the kingdom of our God. These, with the 
difficulties of our journey up the river and over the mountains, 
had well prepared us for appreciating the Christian custom 
of washing of feet attended to on this occasion by our brother 
Reed. Our heart was touched. We thought we saw in the 
faith and manners of this disciple both the principles and 
practice of our own dear Redeemer, and we made no effort 
to restrain our tears. We were both silent, but we both 
wept. 


‘“TIn the afternoon we had an introduction to the two other 
elders brethren Austen and Dungan, with many others. Great, 
indeed, was the brotherly kindness tendered me by the elders 
of this dear congregation—not in word and courtesy alone, 
but in truth and in very deed. We felt at first what we 
learned at last, that we had a home in every heart and in 
every house of the rich and the poor together. ’’ 


From New York he returned by the way of Phila- 
delphia and Baltimore, and the effect of his visit may 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 179 


be gathered from a letter from the church at the latter 
place to the church at Carthage, where he resided. 


‘*To the Saints and Faithful Brethren in Christ Jesus at 
Carthage, Ohio, the congregation of Baltimore wisheth 
peace: 


‘BRETHREN: The bearer being about to return home, we 
conceive it due to him and to you, agreeably to primitive 
custom, to give him a letter of commendation. We should 
be wanting in the courtesy, gratitude, and affection of the 
gospel did we fail to testify our approbation of the course 
pursued by our brother since he came among us. His de- 
portment, zeal, piety, and devotion are to be highly com- 
mended, inasmuch as they have exerted a sanctifying influence 
upon all who have become acquainted with him here, and we 
have the testimony of brethren in Philadelphia and New York 
to the same amount. His affectionate, lucid, and venerable 
manner of presenting the truth has commended itself to all 
who heard him, and been very instrumental in disabusing the 
public mind of certain prejudices and errors in reference 
to some things we believe and practice, occasioned by the 
unskillful and injudicious manner of some unwise though 
honest advocates. His addresses to the brethren have exerted 
a most salutary influence in awakening them to that per- 
fection of spirit and character by which we must enter the 
kingdom of God. And now we do most cordially commend 
him to your regard. 


‘*Signed in behalf of the church. 
““ ALEX. REED, 


“GEORGE AUSTEN, } EHlders.’’ 
‘“PRANCIS DUNGAN, 


About this time the teachings of Miller and others 
with respect to the second advent were creating great 
excitement, particularly in the West. The second 
appearing of the Son of man was, according to them, 
to take place in 1843; many sincerely believed it, 
and acted as those who expected to witness that 


180 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


glorious event. Prominent ministers in nearly all de- 
nominations became interested in the subject, and 
the prophecies in regard to the second advent were 
eagerly and carefully studied. The religious press 
teemed with arguments pro'and con, and religious 
society was moved and agitated as it never was be- 
fore in this generation. Mr. Campbell wrote and 
spoke much in regard to the matter, and, without 
committing himself definitely with regard to the time, 
seemed to be under the impression that the world 
was on the eve of some great and wonderful event. 
Mr. Scott, who was of a more excitable temperament, 
entered warmly into the discussion and investigation 
of the subject. The event was so glorious and to 
him so desirable, that many mistook his wishes for 
his convictions in regard to the matter, and he was 
regarded for a season as identified with the Second 
Adventists. He mingled freely with them at their 
meetings and participated in them, and invited emi- 
nent preachers of that faith to Carthage, and afforded 
them every facility for the presentation of their views 
to the people. He did not forget, however, to present 
before them the views of the gospel in which he was 
regarded as peculiar, and this he did so successfully 
that a number of the Second Advent preachers em- 
braced his views of the primitive gospel and publicly 
advocated the same. 

While he was greatly excited and interested by 
the event which was the great theme of the Ad- 
ventists, he did not seem to be convinced by their 
reasonings with regard to the time at which they 
expected it to take place. The following, from his 
pen, is quite as sensible and pertinent upon this point 
as anything written at that time: 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 181 


‘<Touching the chronological part of the great question 
of the second coming of Christ, it is impossible that men 
should not have their reflections on this point, and perhaps 
it is equally impossible they should not occasionally hazard 
a thought upon the probable era of its occurrence; but 
whether those who dogmatize on the hour, day, or year of 
this illustrious event afford high evidence of superior sagac- 
ity, or are by so doing likely at last to confer any permanent 
benefit on true Christianity and the cause of reformation, 
may be deemed extremely problematical. Our Lord has said 
that of that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of 
God; no, not the Son, but the Father only. This, however, 
was uttered, as the advocates for a particular date sagely 
observe, eighteen hundred years ago, when men, and angels, 
and the Son himself did not enjoy the benefit of the superior 
and increased illuminations of the New Testament. It is 
different with themselves. They have all the wisdom of the 
ancients, and of angels, and Christ; and more, too, they have 
the New in addition to the Old Testament; they have the 
apostles in addition to the prophets. This, indeed, is one 
way of accounting for their own superior attainments above 
men, angels, and Christ himself; and the argument, it is 
likely, will go a good way to annihilate the scruples of many. 
But a man of prudence will pause before he leaps into the 
conclusion here. He would probably oppose serious objections 
to this argument. Perhaps he would ask, ‘Who gave the 
New Testament?’ ‘Was it not the Son?’ ‘And if the Son 
gave the New Testament, did he reveal anything there which 
he himself did not know?’ It is important to the character 
of those who have entered upon discipleship to Christ by 
obedience to the true gospel, that they have their hopes 
elevated to the appearing of Christ, and fixed upon the 
purity, perfection, and glory of his kingdom; but whether 
an attempt to accomplish this by appealing to an exact and 
fixed chronology, would not, if successful, be followed by a 
reaction disastrous to their morals and religion, in the event 
of a disappointment, deserves solemn deliberation. For the 
consideration of all the faithful, it ought to be noted that 
the chronology of the New is, in all its important features, 
precisely that of the Old Testament. The chronology of the 


182 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


Revelations is Daniel’s chronology, and affords no additional 
light on this part of the question touching the appearing and 
kingdom of Christ. Let us, then, who advocate original 
Christianity, preach to the saints for their perfection the 
second coming of Christ, with all its adjuncts, for its own 
intrinsic merits, its own divine importance alone, and leave 
the chronological question where Christ and his apostles left 
it—that is, let us leave it in the moral uncertainty in which 
they left it, and, in the hope of its speedy occurrence, purify 
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, that 
whether he comes at midnight, at cock crowing, or in the 
morning, we may be accounted worthy to stand before him. 

‘Mr. Miller affirms that this dreadful catastrophe will 
occur next year—that the present order of things will be 
arrested in its boasted progress in 1843, and the world come 
to an end. We will not deny this, and dare not affirm it; 
but we do affirm that, as the moral lies, not in the chronology 
of the event but in the event itself, then, whether the Lord 
comes next year or in the present one, it is our duty to 
prepare ourselves and our families for this awfully momentous. 
event. Do we desire that our children should go to heaven, 
that they should share in the glory to be revealed? What, 
then, if it should be written on tomorrow’s sun, with the pen 
of midnight darkness, that ‘‘time should be no longer.’’ 
Have you, reader, any rational or scriptural assurance that 
the Lord will accept your children with yourself? Were the 
sign of the Son of man now to appear in heaven, would you 
exult? would you say, ‘My redemption draweth nigh?’ Where 
are your deeds of charity? where your acts of munificence 
to the poor? Have you fed his hungry ones and given the 
eup of cold water to his thirsty saints? Have you clothed 
the naked, visited the sick, and lodged the stranger? Or has 
your obedience been of a positive nature rather than a moral 
one? Have you only to say, ‘Lord, I have been baptized’— 
‘I have eaten and drunken at thy table!’ ’’ 


In 1844, Mr. Scott left Carthage, where he had 
spent some thirteen laborious and useful years, and 
returned to Pittsburg, the scene of his early labors. 
Here he published a weekly paper, styled the ‘“Prot- 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 183 


estant Unionist,” which was well supported and did 
good service, especially in advocating the union of all 
the people of God on the Bible alone as the rule of 
faith and practice. He preached for both the church 
in Pittsburg and for the much larger congregation 
in Alleghany City. He paid much attention also to 
the instruction of a class of young men in biblical 
knowledge, some of whom became able ministers of 
the Word. 

He also, for a considerable length of time, did serv- 
ice as a “colporteur”; he had heard of the great good 
achieved in Europe, through the agency of the humble 
men who carried the Bible into every hamlet and 
cottage, leaving a copy wherever it was needed, with 
money for it or without price, as the particular case 
required, and reading to those who were unable to 
read the precious truths of the Word of Life; and the 
example seemed one worthy of imitation and that 
might result in great good. ‘Taking a basket well 
filled with Bibles and Testaments, he visited those 
parts of the two cities most likely to be destitute of 
the Scriptures, and actually found many without a 
copy of the Word of God. All who needed a Bible 
received one, and his experiences at the close of each 
day’s labor in this field were interesting in the ex- 
treme. His basket of Bibles served as an introduc- 
tion to professors of every name, and in many families 
where the Bible was read and loved he was long 
and lovingly detained; aged saints were strengthened 
and comforted as he read and commented on the book 
they loved, and the young were delighted and charmed 
with the wondrous conversational eloquence of a man 
who had drunk deep into the Spirit of the Book he 
was striving to circulate. He met with kind treat- 


184 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


ment from all classes, Methodists, Baptists, Presby- 
terians, and Lutherans; all bade him God-speed, and 
gave him a warm welcome whenever he came back: 
and had the history of the events of those days beer 
preserved, it would have formed one of the most de- 
lightful chapters in his eventful life. 

He met with some reverses of fortune about this 
time, but they were regarded as light, as he never had 
much to lose, and never set his heart upon what he 
had. ‘The chief of these losses was by the great fire 
in 1845, which was somewhat against him by delaying 
the issue of his paper, which, however, he was soon 
able to resume. 


CHAPTER XXV 


N addition to all the labors we have mentioned, 

others were added; after being a few years in the 
city he was chosen as bishop or elder of the Alle- 
ghany Church, which imposed upon him the new 
cares and duties growing out of the oversight of the 
flock. For those duties he was admirably fitted; few 
men ever took a more sympathetic heart into the 
house of mourning than he, or ministered more ten- 
derly to broken hearts the consolations of the gospel 
of peace. He well knew, too, how to deal with the 
erring, and he was greatly successful in bringing back 
to the fold the wanderers that had strayed. His heart 
was in his work, and this made it pleasure rather than 
toil. 


A few pages of a diary kept by Elder Scott at this 
period has fallen into my hands, which will give the 
reader a clearer insight into both his inner and out- 
ward life than any other hand could sketch; and it is 
only to be regretted that so brief a record remains of 
a life so useful and eventful. In perusing these daily 
jottings, the reader cannot fail to be impressed by 
the devout spirit which he manifested, and the earnest 
purpose by which he was animated. His first entry 
is dated Friday, Dec. 1, 1848: 


‘‘The first day of my eldership. Studied, wrote, and 
walked to the top of the hill north. This is a great exer- 
cise for the lungs and limbs, yet a small price for the rest 
and fresh air with which it is rewarded at the summit of 
the hill. It is like ascending to paradise. _We breathe a 
more vigorous atmosphere and see all around the innumer- 
able hills that form the main features of the country. 


185 


186 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘*In ascending, we rise from the idea of man’s weakness 
into that of God’s power; we ascend from the restlessness 
of the finite to the tranquillity of the infinite. On the hill- 
top I felt myself with God. The wind was from the north, 
keen, cold, and refreshing—the sky covered with leaden black 
elouds, with the sun now and then gleaming through them 
with a wintry flush. 

‘‘In the valley below, with the three rivers streaming 
through it ‘like a giant’s blood,’ lay the two cities. The 
fresh north wind carried the smoke from a thousand chim- 
neys gracefully toward the Ohio, and laid it in a black, 
unlovely mass upon the Coal Hill side. Began my descent 
running, and continued it the whole length of the hill down- 
wards, every muscle of my limbs and body aching in response 
to the powerful test to which their strength and elasticity 
were put by the exercise. 


‘‘Sought to reclaim an erring brother. Visited another 
in reference to a family Bible. Spent the night in study. 


“*LorD’s Day, Dec. 3, 1848. 


‘‘The great festival—God’s great festival; the best of all 
the seven. What a delight is the Lord’s day! Crowded with 
the grand deeds of Christ—his death, resurrection, and ascen- 
sion to heaven—it awakens in the soul all the resplendent 
recollections of the kingdom of God. What themes does it 
afford for meditation and eloquence! 


“*T spoke ‘On Christ as the Son of God, with power, 
authority, and salvation.’ A grand topic—Matt. 14th chap. 
One accession by baptism, and another by repentance and 
confession. The congregation was good, but not overflowing. 
In the afternoon, under the solemn gladness of the Lord’s 
Supper, we had the reception of the two new members, and 
the kind greeting and shaking of hands of the brethren usual 
on the occasion. The Disciples were filled with joy and-with 
the Holy Spirit. The day closed with a sermon by Dr. 
Slosson, during which I slept as sound as a top, and was 
awakened, to my shame be it spoken, only by the doctor him- 
self, whom I found, to my astonishment on awaking, sitting 
by my side. But this came of my restless and fitful slee 
of the preceding night. . 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 187 


““Monpay, Dec. 4, 1848. 


‘‘Studied Bell’s Anatomy. What a marvel of mechan- 
ism is the human skeleton! The first dash of this great 
master’s pen excited my admiration and fired. my enthusiasm. 
‘The spine,’ he says, ‘is the center of muscular motion, and 
the part of most common relation in the system.’ How 
elegant! By this beautiful truth the mind is carried at once 
down to the deepest and most fundamental thought in 
anatomical science. 


‘‘With firm, elastic tread I marched to the mountain, 
and felt that I had reached the summit without requiring, 
either for limb or lung, a single halt. Then again, I en- 
joyed the feast of a hundred hills, all lying in the quietude 
of the Infinite, who had formed them a feature of his own 
power. For a moment I retreated to the back of the moun- 
tain, that I might enjoy the sweets of solitude, that I might 
hold converse for a moment with the great sentiment of 
power that impressed itself on the surrounding scene. We 
are the architects of our own character as we are of our 
own fortune; I felt that the man who would ascend into the 
serenity of the Infinite must hold converse with the Infinite, 
- the sublime, the boundless. Astronomy must be nearly allied 
to grandeur of character. The study of the stars and the 
silent, boundless heavens, must be very favorable to the 
growth of the higher virtues of silence, quietude, peace, 
tranquillity, awe, reverence, and devotion. 

‘*With the multitude of hills lying all around me, I could 
not but lift up my hat as being in the presence of God. 
‘Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; 
just and true are thy ways, O King of saints.’ Involuntarily 
I repeated that inimitable inspiration—the 34th Psalm: ‘I 
will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be continually 
in my mouth.’ 

‘*This is the psalm that the pious Boardman, first husband 
of the second Mrs. Judson, directed his sweet wife to read 
to him the night before his death in a far distant land. 
Alas! the thought stirs my soul to divine and melancholy 
sympathy. ‘This poor man eried, and the Lord heard him, 
and delivered him from all his fears.’ Ps. xxxiv. 

‘“The wind was direct from the north and laid the smoke 


188 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


of the two cities in an unshapely black mass against the 
Coal Hill south. A slight rain came up; clouds covered the 
heavens; the day was damp, dark, and drizzly. The noise 
of the city, very audible, ascended from below like the noise 
of a host preparing for battle. I descended running; the 
entire length of the hill did not exhaust me. My mouth 
and muscles, my limbs and lungs stood it admirably. Made 
twenty or thirty calls. Had some talk both with Irish 
Catholics and Scotch Presbyterians. 


‘“ DECEMBER 5th, 1848. 


‘*Called on a few families; promised a Bible and Testa- 
ment to a poor black woman. Saw a young wife, who, with 
her husband, said they were Baptists, and from England; 
six months only in this country and as yet had joined no 
religious community. Spoke with a family touching a family 
Bible, and with an acquaintance, an alien, of giving us a 
hearing. 


** DECEMBER 6th. 


‘“Called on the black woman with the Bible and Testa- 
ment I had promised yesterday. For the former I was to 
receive twenty-five cents; but on asking the woman of the 
welfare of her husband, she told me he was sick; that he 
was a Baptist, and a preacher. I could not think of taking 
the price of the book from her, and so gave the Bible to 
her, and the Testament to her little daughter. May God 
bless them both, to the mother and the child. Called on 
a Cumberland Presbyterian, and conversed with the mother 
of the family. This is always interesting. Since I came to 
have a family myself, conversation with mothers is, I feel, 
more interesting to me than with daughters. Spent almost 
the entire day hunting up the flock. Had several opportunties 
of fireside preaching. May God water what I planted! Are 
the public or private labors of a pastor the most prolific 
of good? Or can the elder of a church achieve more by his 
private or public labors? Public and private labor do form 
but the two parts of one rule for evangelizing the world. 
As it is said the apostles labored ‘publicly and from house 
to house,’ but as things which God has joined together man 
oftentimes thrust asunder, and as ministers who work well in 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 189 


public, divorce from this the love which is due from them to 
their flock in private, it may be well to consider the com- 
parative value of public and private labor in religion. The 
purposes of the church are either subjective or objective, as 
the Germans would say. For they either respect her own 
perfection or the world’s conversion. Touching the church’s 
perfection, a minister may publicly say everything that ean 
be said on the subject of the personal and family piety of 
the members, and yet neither advance the thing one step or 
know the true state of the case in regard to any of them. 
Practice and theory, action and eloquence are different things. 
A pastoral visit discovers the sore and enables the shepherd 
to put his finger on it on the spot. Publicly, a minister can 
say more, but do less. Privately, his field is narrowed down 
to the smallest possible dimensions, and, with the power 
brought thus near to the machinery, he acts with the greatest 
possible effect. 


‘* DECEMBER 8, 1848. 


‘*The wintry appearance of the country today was very 
striking; the brown fields and blackened forests, the dis- 
robed orchards and desolated gardens looked sad. A flock 
of pigeons sported in the blustering wind over a cornfield, 
and seemed delighted with their fortune. How delightful 
would it be if men, like birds, could ascend for refreshment 
into the heavens! ‘But the heavens, even the heaven of 
heavens, are the Lord’s.’ The earth hath he given to the 
children of men. Made a number of calls. Saw Sister 
C ,» who informed me that her husband had died the 
last month, and left her with seven children. It was a sore 
case. Gave her , for which she seemed exceedingly 
thankful. 








*“LorD’s Day, Dec. 10, 1848. 


‘*The rain cloud covered the heavens, the weather gloomy 
and wet. The congregation on that account thin. Spoke 
upon our blessed Lord as the ‘Faithful and True Witness.’ 
Rev. 3rd chap. It was a happy theme, and I had an 
abundant enlargement and spoke the Word of the Lord boldly. 
In a preliminary—brief, and perhaps beautiful—spoke of 
nature and religion as witnesses for God. Touching nature, 
as testifying for the Divine existence, showed that David 


190 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


(19th Psalm), and Galileo, philosophy and religion, science 
and the Scriptures concurred; that from the atom to the 
archangel nature said there was a God, and that his natural 
attributes were power, unlimited power, immensity, wisdom, 
and benevolence. But while, as Paul expresses it, the invisible 
attributes of the Godhead are clearly seen in the things that 
are seen, the details of creation were entirely mute in regard 
to some of God’s moral attributes; his merey, justice, and 
compassion for man as he is. Religion supplies what is 
wanted here, and testifies of the mercy and justice of God 
and his disposition toward man as he is—fallen, sinful, 
forlorn, ruined. 

‘“On the front of the canvas of religion stands our Lord 
Jesus Christ, distinguished as the faithful and true witness 
to the divine nature in the points above stated. He testifies 
in behalf of God, against the world and against the church. 
He is a witness because he testifies—a true witness, because 
all things whatsoever he heard of the Father he has made 
known to us—the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
the truth; and he is a faithful witness, because he maintained 
the truth of his testimony to the death, and sealed it with 
his blood. 

““Ist. His testimony in behalf of the Divine nature is 
chiefly accumulated on two points: 

‘1st. That God loved man as he is. 

‘*2d. That he loved justice more; and, as proof of this, 
seeing nothing else would do, he sent his Son into this wretched 
world to redeem it. His testimony against the world also 
converged to two points—that it was, 

““1st. In a state of sin, 

‘¢2d. And would be punished. 

**So also of his testimony against the church; that her 
leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees, had 

‘1st. Corrupted the law; and, 

‘*2d. Rejected the gospel. 


‘¢ TMPROVEMENT 
‘Tn witnessing for God and against the church and the 
world, we were to imitate him, and meet men precisely at 
the point where they set themselves in practical opposition 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 19] 


to God and religion. To do this, was to be a true witness, 
and to do it at the hazard of our life and reputation, was to 
be a faithful witness. 


**In the afternoon, we had heaven upon earth; that is, we 
had the Lord’s Supper. 


‘*LorpD’s Day, Drc. 17, 1848. 

*‘In the afternoon, partook of the Lord’s Supper with 
the brotherhood. It is usual for me or my colleague Bro. 
Church to call on one of the brethren, to address the church 
at this solemn moment, but I do not approve of it; experience 
is against the custom, for I never can perceive that one of 
all who are invited to speak on the occasion sympathize with 
it, or are equal to it. They preach about every thing and 
anything that is uppermost in their mind, and that is never 
the Supper. This is incongruous, and to me exceedingly 
annoying. Would they take Gethsemane, or the house of the 
high priest, or that of Caiaphas, or Pilate’s bar, or the 
Pretorium, or the baleony ‘Ecce Homo,’ or the nailing him 
to the cross and his elevation on that accursed tree, or his 
groans, and cries, or death, or burial, or resurrection, or the 
nature of the Supper as a memorial of his death, or its 
peculiar attribute, or its character as the symbol of union 
among the brethren, or any other of its meanings, either 
figurative or literal, they would at least proceed decorously 
and in unison with the occasion; but this is seldom or never 
done. 


‘*The last and latest hours of this blessed evening were 
spent with my wife in reading, and in weeping over the 
piety, genius, and sufferings of the second Mrs. Judson, of 
Tavoy, India, as portrayed by her who has succeeded to the 
arms and affections of her eminent husband, Adoniram Jud- 
son, of Maulmain. 


‘* DECEMBER 19, 1848. 
‘‘In my descent from the mountain this morning, was 
saluted by Mother Thompson, who informed me both of 
Mrs. §S ’s residence and her own. She is a widow. I 
have already obtained the names of twenty-four widows, 
all members of the congregation. What a field for the Chris- 
tian philanthropist is this! 





192 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘* DECEMBER 25, 1848. 


‘*How sweet to give the first-fruits of our waking moments 
to God! How blessed to receive a Christmas gift from him! 
The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. 
Attended my theological class; greatly surprised by the stu- 
dents, who acquitted themselves beyond all expectation. In 
the four gospels, we see our religion founded; in the Acts, 
we see it organized; in the epistles, we see the church’s 
pastoral superintendence; and in the Revelation, we see her 
apostatized. 


‘DECEMBER 26th. 


‘*Spent the evening with a Christian brother. A _ visit 
for religious purposes, if discreetly made, is as delightful 
as it is profitable to the parties. But the visit should, if 
possible, be strictly religious, and the sacred always be made 
to predominate over the secular. 


‘“Lorp’s Day, Dec. 31, 1848. 


‘¢This was a day rich in all grand things. In the morning, 
Bro. B , Agent of the Society for Converting the Jews, 
‘preached on this subject, and took the ground that the gospel 
was to be preached to the Jews first, and that the mass of 
the heathen world would not be restored to God by the 
preaching of the gospel until Israel should be saved. Bro. 
Church followed in a few remarks, very much to the pur- 
pose, in which he justified the ground which had been as- 
sumed in the sermon. I closed by a few words on the joy 
of Israel when these things should have been accomplished. 
The afternoon was heavenly and divine. Oh! the blessedness 
of the heavenly ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. What a 
feast—it is fat things, truly—wine upon the lees well refined. 
Bro. Church preached in the evening. The discourse was upon 
Romans 8th chap. Very fine—pious, practical, enlightened.’’ 





The preceding extracts are all from the same month, 
and yet what a rich variety of thought, feeling, and 
action do they present! His love of nature, which 
ever led him up to nature’s God; his deep devotion, 
his earnest practical religion, seen in visiting the 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 193 


fatherless and widows in their affliction; his careful 
study of God’s Word; devotion to the class of young 
men to whom he was unfolding the Scriptures; and 
the abundance of his public and private labors; all of 
which show that he permitted no day to pass without 
its good deed. Had this diary been continued, what 
a rich legacy of Christian example, instruction, and 
effort it would have been! But a record of it has 
been kept that will be imperishable. 


In the midst of these his abundant labors, how- 
ever, he was very happy; and the few years spent at 
this period in Pittsburg were, doubtless, the happiest 
of his life. He enjoyed greatly the society of his son 
in the faith, Elder Samuel Church, under whose labors 
a large and influential congregation had been gathered. 
Their intimacy had been lifelong, and grew with each 
succeeding year, and the attachment they had for 
each other was cemented during these years by the 
union of their families—Mr. Scott’s eldest son John 
marrying Mary, Elder Church’s eldest daughter, and 
Mr. Church’s eldest son William being united to 
Emily, Mr. Scott’s eldest and only surviving daughter. 
Happy in seeing his children settled in life, happy in 
useful and successful labor, happy in seeing the cause 
to which he had given the energies of his life pros- 
pering beyond all that he had hoped, he had reason 
for gratitude and devout thanksgiving. For a great 
portion of his life he could truthfully sing: 

‘*No foot of land do I possess, 


Nor cottage in this wilderness,— 
A poor wayfaring man.’’ 


He went on his way toiling, sorrowing, yet rejoicing, 
and could truly, amid all the changes of his lot, say: 


194 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


‘¢Yonder’s my house and portion fair, 
My treasure and my heart are there, 
And my abiding home.’’ 


He found by experience and observation that the 
fewer earthly cares and anxieties a preacher of the 
gospel had, the better it was for him and for the cause 
in which he was engaged. He saw that riches often 
drew the heart away from God, and therefore he 
neither strove after wealth nor repined at his lot. 
One very happy result of his narrow circumstances 
was, that his children, at an early period, became self- 
reliant and self-supporting, and the fact that all of 
them have been, in a greater or lesser degree, success- 
ful in life may be attributed to the stern yet useful. 
discipline of their early years. As already intimated, 
this period of his life was doubtless the happiest he 
ever enjoyed. Relieved, in a great measure, of a 
parent’s anxiety by seeing his children settled and 
their prospects cheering, he doubtless expected that 
he and she who for more than a quarter of a century 
had been his faithful companion would quietly de- 
scend together the western slope of life, and, as they 
had cheered each other in the steep ascent,.so they 
would comfort each other as they went down the 
declivity, and, in the words of the old song, not 
separated by a long interval, they would “sleep to- 
gether at the foot.”’ But this was not to be; the great 
sorrow of his life was at hand, his beloved wife was 
taken away, and his heart and home were left desolate. 
This sad event took place on the 28th of April, 1849, 
and was made the subject of the following tender and 
dignified notice by her sorely stricken husband, in the 
next issue of his paper: 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 195 


‘‘The death of this excellent woman was sudden and 
unexpected, but never, perhaps, did mortal breathe out her 
spirit in holier tranquillity. After death, her features were 
composed into a heavenly sweetness, so that it seemed as if 
he who separated her soul from all that was mortal left be- 
hind him evident traces of his divine presence on the solemn 
occasion. Her history may soon be told. She belonged to 
families who were among the first settlers of Westmoreland 
County, Penn., where many of her relations still live. She 
gave her hand in marriage in 1823, and in 1827 accompanied 
her husband to the Western Reserve, Ohio, where she witnessed, 
during the years 1827, ’28, ’29, ’30, thousands gathered unto 
the fold of God, and where she participated in the joys and 
sorrows of that deeply interesting period. During her long 
stay in Carthage, Hamilton County, Ohio, she made many 
acquaintances among the people of God, of whom hundreds, 
yea, thousands, partook of the hospitality of her roof and 
board. The difficulties to which the infantile state of the 
connection subjected our laborers during the last twenty-two 
years, were known to her perhaps more than any other woman, 
but she still hoped on, and greatly animated her husband 
to persevere when these difficulties had well-nigh overcome his 
faith. She has raised for the Most High ‘a godly seed,’ and 
her husband, the best earthly witness—who feels that in her 
death the center of feeling and affection, and of moral 
and religious influence, is smitten down in the family—testifies 
that she was the best of wives, the tenderest of mothers, 
and the most faithful of friends—a Christian in faith, and 
works, and charity.’’ 


CHAPTER XXVI 


HEN the sad bereavement just noticed took 

place, Mr. Scott was something over fifty years 
of age, and in this, the autumn time of his life, the 
fruitfulness of which its spring time and summer time 
gave such rich promise was not wanting. His powers 
at this time were in their full maturity, and his sor- 
row gave a mellowness and tenderness to this thoughts 
which they had not possessed before. The thought 
that the shadows of evening were drawing near doubt- 
less led him to think of the night not far distant, and 
of the necessity for working while it was “called to- 
day,” and the result was a girding himself for the best 
labors of an active and useful life. His plea for a 
return to the example of the apostles in presenting 
the message of life and salvation to dying men, had 
been eminently successful; thousands of converts 
were made every year, giving ample demonstration 
that “the gospel was indeed the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth,’ and that “the 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul’; and 
the faith grew strong in his heart that the truth of 
God, which had wrought so mightily in the conver- 
sion of sinners, would be the instrumentality through 
which would be accomplished that union of his people 
for which the Savior when on earth had prayed. 

To correct, as far as lay in his power, the evils of 
division, and present a firm basis for the union of all 
the people of God, became now an all-engrossing 
thought, and resulted in a tract of over one hundred 
pages, in which the subject was handled with a force 
and felicity which have seldom been equalled. 


196 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 197 


Dr. Richardson, himself a polished and graceful 
writer, says: “I regard the performance as the most 
extraordinary work of the age in the religious depart- 
ment, not only for the logical force with which it 
evolves the great master truth, the Divinity of Christ, 
but for the clearness and energetic beauty of its style 
and the wonderful power of analysis which it dis- 
plays.” And A. Campbell, one of the foremost 
scholars and thinkers of this century said: “It is one 
of the best tracts of the age, and the best on the 
Divinity of Christ that has in forty years’ reading 
come under my eye.” Higher praise could not have 
been given to it, nothing has since been written to 
equal it, and to surpass it would scarcely be possible. 

This was followed in a short time by another brief 
treatise on the “Death of Christ” scarcely inferior to 
the former one; full of tenderness and sweetness 
which such a theme could not fail to draw forth from 
a mind and heart like his. 


In the meantime, he married Miss Annie B. Allen, 
of Mayslick, Ky., in 1850, and for some time was at 
the head of a flourishing female academy in Coving- 
ton, Ky. Here his wife, whom he characterizes as 
“a most blessed woman, but inclined to consumption,” 
died in 1854 of that insidious disease, leaving one 
daughter, Carrie Allen Scott. The union, though 
short, was a happy one, as his young wife was ex- 
tremely amiable, truly pious, and deeply devoted to 
her husband. Her death caused him to give up the 
academy and to devote himself to evangelical labors, 
which were quite successful, and to the composition 
of the most elaborate work that ever employed his 
pen. 


198 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


In the last week of 1855, he paid a visit to Bethany, 
and his spirit was greatly refreshed. He says he 
was received with the greatest cordiality and hospi- 
tality, and that it would have been impossible for any 
one to have showed him greater kindness than was 
manifested by Mr. Campbell and family. He re- 
mained there several days, and delivered several ad- 
dresses to the students at the college. Mr. Campbell 
and himself had been engaged in an earnest effort to 
restore primitive Christianity since their early man- 
hood, but now Mr. Scott was about three-score, and 
his fellow-laborer verging upon three-score and ten; 
together they had borne the heat and burden of the 
day; they both felt that the evening was at hand 
and their work nearly done; but when they looked 
at the mighty results which had grown out of their 
united and untiring labors, they could not but be 
grateful to him who had made their lives and labors 
such a blessing to their race. 

Previous to this time, Mr. Scott married his third 
wife, Mrs. Eliza Sandige, of Mason County, Ky., 
where he resided until his death. His faculties at 
this period of his life seemed to have suffered no 
decay; his form still erect, his hair but slightly 
changed, and the luster of his keen, dark eyes un- 
dimmed; and, though he felt none of the infirmities 
of age, he could not resist the conviction that when 
the lengthening shadows had grown a little longer he 
would be called to depart. This feeling was deepened 
by the death of many of his old and cherished friends, 
but more than all by the unexpected death of his life- 
long friend and dearly esteemed brother in Christ, Eld. 
Samuel Church, which took place in the city of New 
York on the 7th of December, 1857. Converted by 


LIFE OF FELDER WALTER SCOTT 199 


Scott more than thirty years before, and their early 
friendship cemented in after years by the marriage of 
their children, the loss was one that was deeply and 
keenly felt—how deeply, we can best learn from the 
following letter of condolence to his son-in-law and 
daughter soon after the sorrowful event : 


‘(MAYSLICK, Dec. 16, 1857. 
‘WILLIAM AND EMILY: 


‘*‘My Very Dear Children: The Lord bless you, the Lord 
comfort you and support you under the news of your great 
loss, of which you will no doubt have been informed before 
this letter reaches you. A communication from Bro. Challen, 
dated the 10th of Dec., informed me of the sad fact of the 
death of your father in New York. He was on a visit there, 
and was in good health and fine spirits, but was taken 
suddenly with inflammation of the stomach and bowels. He 
had an appointment to preach to the Disciples, but he was 
unable to fill it. Dr. Parmley was informed of his indis- 
position, and called upon him at the Astor House and offered 
his services, which, however, were not needed, there being a 
physician in attendance. Next day (Monday) Dr. Parmley 
called again, and found your dear father rapidly sinking. 
He asked the doctor to pray with him, and to read the 14th 
and 17th chapters of John. He was greatly refreshed by 
these exercises, but too weak to talk much. He directed Dr. 
Parmley to place the Bible under his pillow; then, looking 
upward to heaven with a steady gaze and a countenance 
radiant with light and glory, he fell asleep in Christ. 


‘*My children, my dear children, this news has reached 
my inmost soul. How unexpected to all of us! To your 
mother and you how severe! But we have a God into whose 
gracious ear we can pour, with the assurance of being heard, 
all our deep sorrows, all our crushing afflictions; and we 
know that, although the outward and commercial life of your 
father was agitated with great vicissitudes, yet his inward 
and spiritual life was very different; that it was calm, 
unvarying, meditative, devoted to God, beautiful and holy. 
Though his death is but one of the millions of deaths by 


200 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


which a merciful God is unceasingly speaking to mankind, 
and reminding all of their mortality; yet this death speaks 
to me, and will, I doubt not, to you, in a peculiar tone. 
Oh, it seems to bring my last end near to me indeed! for he 
was as my own flesh and blood, as indeed the whole family 
are—but he particularly! He .was among my first ac- 
quaintances in Pittsburg. I immersed him with my own 
hands upward of thirty years ago, and he was ever dear, ever 
lovely to me. During these latter years, my children, death 
has been more familiar to my meditations than formly, for, 
as we have in us no natural instinct of death, and all our 
impulses are vital and immortal, I have during much of my 
life-time imagined I should live forever, and have weakly 
thought ‘all men are mortal but myself.’ I am convinced 
it is not so. I also must die, and the death of Father 
Church has doubled the rational conviction. May the Lord 
enable us so to live and spend this brief life as to be at last 
deemed worthy to meet our great and good brother and 
father in the better land whither he has gone! 

‘“‘My dear children, be consoled; commit your sorrows 
to the bosom of your Father in heaven. His ways are above 
our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts; but he is 
slow to anger and full of compassion, and so would manage 
us that our souls might not be lost. I sympathize with you 
in all your trials, afflictions, and privations. I ever bear 
you on my hands and bosom before a merciful God, who will 
not ultimately let pass unanswered the cries and tears of an 
afflicted and heart-broken parent. I live in hope to see you 
in spring or early summer. 

‘*Accept a father’s blessing, dearest children. May 
Almighty God have you all, at all times, in his holy keeping; 
and to his name be all praise. 

‘*Devotedly and affectionately, your father, 


‘SWALTER ScotTt.’’ 


Soon after this, he completed his work, “The Mes- 
siahship, or the Great Demonstration,” his most 
elaborate effort, and a most fitting close to his literary 
labors. Other books have been written of which 
Christ was professedly the theme, but in this he was 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 201 


really so; every ray of light from type and symbol, 
prophecy and history, from seer and evangelist, is 
made to converge on the Son of God as the central 
figure; his nature, offices, and work are brought fully 
to view, until the reader, in rapt adoration, is ready 
to join with martyrs, apostles, and the heavenly host 
in their ascriptions of praise, and cry, “Crown him 
Lord of all.” Elder A. Campbell characterized it as 
a very interesting, edifying, cheering, and fascinating 
volume. Elder Errett said: “Immense labor has 
been bestowed upon it by one of the best minds that 
God has given us. It sparkles and shines all over 
with the peculiar genius of the author.” And Prof. 
Richardson adds: “I have read enough of it to see 
that it abounds in most valuable and profound 
thought, striking analyses, and rich development of 
truth. I am better pleased with it the more I examine 
it. It embraces charming passages, revealing deep 
lessons of human experience and divine truth. I thank 
God that you have been enabled to present such a 
work to the world. In view of its sublime and far- 
reaching revelations, its cogent logic, and still more 
striking analytical divisions, and just distinctions, the 
rest of the literature of the Reformation seems to me 
to grow very pale and dim.” 

His letters at this period show how much his mind 
was occupied with the things of that world which he 
was rapidly nearing; one of them, to his eldest son, 
is as follows: 


‘My DEAR SON: 


‘‘The Lord bless you and your family; the Lord make 
you all a blessing. Your last came to hand last evening. 
What could more rejoice a parent than the practical proof 
which it gives of my children’s love for each other? In the 


202 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


133d Psalm, David compares brotherly affection to the 
inimitable ointment poured on the head of Aaron at his 
inauguration into the priestly office, and to the dews of Zion 
and Hermon. It is where this abounds that God commands 
the blessing of eternal life! Let it, then, abound among my 
loved ones, my children and my children’s children, to a 
thousand generations. I trust I may never want a man to 
stand before God and praise him or Christ while the world 
endures. My dearest son, it is becoming strikingly evident 
that the present life is valuable only as seen related to the 
life to come. It is, indeed, burdened with mortal endurance, 
but suffering, like all things else, has a grand moral—perfece- 
tion; and perfection has its reward—glory. God has opened 
my eyes to see him in every thing; as the poet says: ‘The 
rolling year is full of thee.’ In what thing is not God to be 
seen? As a child said, ‘Where is he not?’ Oh, it is a blessed 
gift from God—the gift of seeing him in every thing. The 
blessing of being associated forever with a single saint, say 
Brother Church, is worth a life-time endurance of all the ills 
of life; but what is the fellowship of one to all—your mother, 
your dear blessed mother, and myriads like her, full of the love 
of God and glory all around; but what are all saints and all 
angels to our God, our: sweet, our dear, our ever precious 
Redeemer, the Son of the great Eternal? Oh, my son, what 
love I have for them who love you! What love, then, must 
the great God have for them that love his Son! He will 
lavish on them all the riches of eternal life. Let us, then, 
from generation to generation love our Lord Jesus. with all 
our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all 
our strength. Let our family be great in piety, open, de- 
clared piety, seen and read of all men. Let us successively 
give examples to those whom God raises up by us, and grow 
greater and greater in piety toward God, till we shall stand 
and our descendants shall occupy the chief position in the 
front rank of those who have been heroes for God and the 
cause of our Lord Jesus in the earth. Eternal life is worth 
living for and worth dying for; let us labor, then, to enter 
into eternal life. 


‘‘ Affectionately, your father, 
Wie SCOTTI. y 


CHAPTER XXVII 


N THE spring of 1860, when Scott was over three- 

score, he was, however, still active, still planning 
deeds of toil and usefulness, and gave every indica- 
tion that he intended the last enemy should find him 
at his post with his armor on. His power in the pul- 
pit seemed to be scarcely abated, and the productions 
of his pen possessed much of the freshness and vigor 
of his early days. 


During the thirty years that had passed since he 
first went before the public with his plea for a return 
to the simplicity of the primitive gospel, the Disciples 
from a handful had become a multitude, and the prin- 
ciples for which he had battled so long and well were 
widely spread and firmly established. Everywhere 
through the West the results of his labors were ap- 
parent; and the churches he had established on the 
Western Reserve were exercising a commanding in- 
fluence in the respective communities in which they 
were located, and no reformer of modern times ever 
saw so rich a harvest as did he, from the seed which 
was sown in tears. Many of his converts had become 
able and successful preachers, and though one by one 
his old companions in toil were gathered to their rest, 
there was every prospect that the work which was 
left to younger hands would be well done. Honor 
and glad welcome now greeted him where persecu- 
tion and misrepresentation had formerly been en- 
countered, and his heart was gladdened by seeing his 
spiritual children walking and rejoicing in the truth. 
When he met with his surviving fellow-laborers, it 
was pleasant to talk of trials past and battles won, 


203 


204 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


and almost inspired the wish that youth might be 
renewed, to pass again through the trials it was so 
sweet to remember. An instance of. this is related 
by his life-long friend and fellow-laborer Elder James 
Challen. He says: “I met Bro. Scott on Main Street, 
Cincinnati; he was in quite a meditative mood, and 
was evidently thinking of approaching old age and 
the decay of his powers and the feebleness it would 
bring. I roused him from his reverie by referring 
to the trials and triumphs of the past; when, with 
tears in his eyes, and with touching pathos and sub- 
limity, he said: ‘Oh, Brother Challen, I wish that 
I were young again; I would fight my way onward 
and upward from the river to the hills.’ ” 

But he was not destined to feel the decay of his 
powers, which at such moments he seemed to fear, 
for the end came before his energies gave evidence 
of any great and sad decline, and had that end come 
but a few months sooner he would have escaped one 
of the greatest sorrows that his heart ever felt. This 
great trouble was the sad state of the country which 
soon culminated in disunion and a civil war. 

As already intimated, he was a great lover of Amer- 
ican institutions; under them the human mind had 
freer scope than it had ever enjoyed before; there 
were no alliances or entanglements between the 
church and State, no religion established by law; and 
hence he deemed that Christianity had never enjoyed 
such an opportunity to prove her sovereignty, and he 
cherished the hope that under such favorable circum- 
stances she would do more than ever in subduing 
mankind to God. These hopes were suddenly and 
rudely dissipated by the rupture between the States 
which followed the election of Abraham Lincoln to 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 205 


the Presidency in the fall of 1860, and no one felt 
more keenly or deplored more deeply the state of 
things which then prevailed than Elder Scott. 

His sorrow, however, did not unman him, but, on 
the contrary, aroused him to do all in his power, as a 
man and a Christian, to avert the dangers which 
threatened. He wrote and spoke much with regard 
to the state of the country, with great force and elo- 
quence; and while he was the unswerving friend of 
the Government, he never permitted the Christian to 
be lost in the politician—never gave utterance to an 
unseemly or blood-thirsty expression; his views of the 
nature of the contest so near at hand were far clearer 
than those of most men of his time; he loved not 
strife, but he saw that it was inevitable; he neither 
sought nor desired to be neutral, and he left behind 
him a record that will ever stamp him as a Christian 
patriot. His friends North and South were num- 
bered by tens of thousands, and to them he addressed 
a well considered and carefully written expression of 
his views on the great questions of the hour. This 
essay, called the “Crisis,” was publicly read on sevy- 
eral occasions, and was warmly approved, but, by a 
policy which was unjust to Scott, it was denied a 
place on the pages of a periodical which would have 
brought it before thousands of those who knew him 
best, and who would have been most likely to have 
been benefited by his earnest and truthful words. It 
is extremely doubtful whether the matters at issue 
at that time were ever more ably or eloquently set 
forth than in the essay under consideration, and it 
is very certain that those questions were never dis- 
cussed in a better temper and spirit. Nothing of the 
partisan or demagogue appears in it, but a clear head 


206 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


and a kind heart are everywhere discoverable. ‘The 
document is too long for inserton entire, yet his life 
would be imperfect without some notice of his views 
on a subject of such grave importance, and we there- 
fore give a few of the introductory pages from which 
to judge the whole: 


‘Brethren and fellow-citizens: Fraternal ties are being 
sundered, and sundered, I fear, forever. The Northern 
and Southern sections of our illustrious Republic, hitherto 
nurtured, like twin sisters, at the breast of the same magna 
mater virum, purpose to discard the fraternal relation, and, 
as distinct nations, stand in future to each other in the 
relations of peace or war, blood or gain. Some good-natured 
but not far-seeing men imagine that our Federal difficulties 
will disappear as certainly and suddenly as they were sud- 
denly and unexpectedly developed. God grant they may; 
but brothers’ quarrels are not lovers’ quarrels, and it requires 
but little logic to foresee that, unless the black cloud that 
at present overhangs the great Republic is speedily buried 
in the deep bosom of the ocean, it will finally rain down 
war, bloodshed, and death on these hitherto peaceful and 
delightful lands. 


‘“Brethren, I thought it might shed a salutary influence 
on your bleeding hearts to submit to you, in the tranquil- 
lity of a written and read oration, an exhibit of our public 
affairs as they have, at this distracted crisis, impressed them- 
selves on my own understanding and heart. I say ‘my heart,’ 
for God is witness to the floods of bitter tears I have shed 
over the disruption of our Federal Government. 


‘‘T thought that, your fears being soothed by the con- 
sideration that ‘all is not lost that is in danger,’ I might 
intercede with you to continue your prayer to God in behalf 
of the Republic; that he would have this great nation in his 
holy keeping; that he would preserve the Union in its integ- 
rity; that he would impart wisdom to our conservative states- 
men; defeat the counsels of our Ahithophels, and cause this 
magnificent and unparalleled government to remain ‘one and 
indivisible, now and forever!’ ’’ 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 207 


At the time the preceding sentiments were penned, 
while the worst was to be feared from the great agi- 
tation both at the North and the South, the worst had 
not yet come. Mr. Scott, however, was far-sighted 
enough to see that the threatened disruption would not 
be a bloodless one, and the prospect overwhelmed 
him with grief. His letters at this period reveal fully 
the state of his mind. In one of them, addressed to 
his eldest son, he writes: 


‘*T thank God that I have a son who fears the Most High, 
and who loves ‘his own, his native land.’ Your sentiments 
and feelings touching the Federal Government and the Union 
of all the States are so perfectly identical with my own, that 
I need not rehearse them. You say: ‘I am so disheartened 
and cast down, so overwhelmed with the general gloom that 
overspreads my dear, my native land, that I can scarcely 
think of any thing else.’ These words, my son, precisely 
describe my state of mind. I can think of nothing but the 
sorrows and dangers of my most beloved adopted country. 
God is witness to my tears and grief. I am cast down, I am 
afflicted, I am all broken to pieces. My confidence in man is 
gone. May the Father of mercies show us mercy! Mine eye 
runneth down with grief. In the Revolution, God gave us 
a man equal to the occasion; but at this gloomy crisis such 
a man is wanting; let us look to God, then. There was a 
time in ancient Israel’s misfortunes when God looked for 
such a man, a man equal to the crisis, but there was none. 
‘I looked,’ he says, ‘and there was none to save, and I won- 
dered there were none to uphold, therefore mine own arm 
brought salvation to me, and my fury it upheld me.’ Let us 
pray unceasingly, and trust it will be so now—trust that his 
own arm will bring salvation. Oh, that it might, that all the 
glory may be his! 

**You ask if I think the Lord will interfere in our be- 
half? I answer, that unless he has decided to destroy us as 
a nation, he will interfere and rescue us from the impending 
vengeance. Let us, my son, be as Moses in the case, and 
cease not to invoke his interference in our behalf. Let us 


208 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


be earnest for our dear country. I had thought that in 
my prayers none could insinuate themselves between me and 
my dear children, but believe me, my son, even my own 
dear flesh and blood has given way to my patriotism—my 
country. Hence, you will infer what earnest grief inspires 
my supplications for the Republic. On Friday, let us go 
before the Lord fasting, and, humbling ourselves before the 
blessed God, confess, in behalf both of ourselves and our 
dear country, all our sins, and determine, with his help, to 
reform in all things. Let us say, with that great servant of 
the Lord, Moses, ‘If thou wilt slay all this people, blot me 
out of thy book of life.’ For all the nations will hear and 
say that it was because the Lord wanted to destroy them 
that he gave them their great inheritance. Oh, that the 
Lord would forgive the nation and heal the dreadful and 
ghastly wound that has been inflicted on the body of the 
Republic. ’’ 


Such were the feelings which overflowed from his 
pious and patriotic heart about the close of the year 
1860, when only one State had seceded, when as yet 
no blow had been struck, when no blood had been 
shed. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


FE, HAVE now reached 1861, the last year of 

the life of Elder Scott, and his last days were 

in the dark days of the Republic. We have seen 
already that the distracted state of the country deeply 
affected him, but he had only seen thus far the begin- 
ning of sorrows; one State only had broken away 
from the rest, like a star falling from the firmament ; 
but now they began to fall in quick succession, like 
the angels who kept not their first estate, falling from 
their thrones of light. He now realized that there 
was no hope of a peaceful adjustment, and that the 
land of which he was proud to be a citizen, which 
had been a light to other lands was about to undergo 
a dark and bloody eclipse; this increased his sorrow 
and filled him with most painful forebodings, for in 
the madness that ruled the hour he saw nothing but 
disaster and ruin, and feared that, in the storm of the 
impending fraternal strife, the ship of state would be 
wrecked and the best hopes of humanity go down. 
It added to his distress to find that the voice of 
reason and religion was almost lost amid the fierce 
tumult, and he shuddered at the thought that the 
blood of brethren must be shed by brothers’ hands. 
He was several times during the winter called upon 
to address public meetings, and he did so with rare 
eloquence and deep pathos; his words were words of 
truth and soberness, as far removed as possible from 
the language of the demagogue—words which only 
a true Christian patriot could feel and utter. He 
greatly desired a peaceful settlement of the existing 
troubles; such a_ settlement without bloodshed he 


209 


210 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


deemed would present to men and angels the grand- 
est spectacle of the power of religion and civilization 
that mankind had ever witnessed; but much as he 
desired it, he was not sanguine enough to indulge 
any such hope at this time. He thus gave vent to 
his feelings in writing to his son John: 


‘‘My poor wife is sitting by me, reading of Gen. Wash- 
ington, and is as deeply affected by the state of our national 
affairs as I or any other person could be. This terrible affair 
has broken many a heart, and, I fear, if there is not a change 
for the better soon, it will break all hearts. I never heard 
of so grievous a case. Abundance of tears have been shed 
in my family this day over this sad event. It has torn me 
all to pieces. I thank the goodness of God that civil war 
is not yet upon us. If all the Southern States secede with- 
out compromise, they will part from us in the worst spirit, 
and war will follow. Secession is war—Union, peace. I 
fear that, unless union is effected immediately, secession 
will reveal itself in the thunders of civil war.’’ 


Soon after this, in a letter without date, in reply to 
one from his son in Pittsburg, dated April 10th, he 
writes that his worst fears were realized. His lan- 
guage is as follows: 


‘‘The fate of Fort Sumter, which you had not heard of 
when you wrote—which, indeed, occurred subsequently to 
the date of your letter—will now have reached you. Alas, 
for my country! Civil war is now most certainly inaugu- 
rated, and its termination who can foresee? Who can pre- 
dict? Twice has the state of things filled my eyes with 
tears this day. Oh, my country! my country! How I love 
thee! how I deplore thy present misfortunes! ”’ 


The letter from which we have quoted must have 
been written between the 15th and 20th of April, less 
than one week before his death. No intimation was 
given in it of any illness; indeed, he was able on 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT Zill 


Monday, the 15th, to visit a number of his friends, 
and, though much depressed by the sad state of the 
affairs of the country, he was to all appearance in his 
usual health. On Tuesday, he was attacked with 
typhoid pneumonia, and rapidly grew worse; little 
alarm, however, was felt until the following Lord’s 
day, when it was thought necessary to inform his 
children by telegraph that his condition was critical. 
Elder John Rogers, an old friend and beloved fellow- 
laborer, happened to be in Mayslick and called upon 
him, and, though quite ill, found him able to converse 
freely. Elder Rogers was impressed with the thought 
that the end was not far distant, and said to him: 
“Bro. Scott,-is this death?’ He replied: “It is very 
like it.” “Do you fear death?’ was the next ques- 
tion. “Oh! no,” he said; “I know in whom I have 
trusted’; and during the entire interview he mani- 
fested an unwavering faith in the Savior he had 
long preached to others, and whom he now found so 
precious to his own soul. 


Elder L. P. Streator visited him several times dur- 
ing his illness, and conversed freely with him with 
regard to the change which was evidently near. He 
asked him whether he was conscious that he was 
going to die. ‘Yes,’ he answered; “and many a true 
soldier has gone before me over Jordan.” 


On Sunday, the 21st, he was evidently sinking rap- 
idly. Elder Streator called in, and found him much 
worse, and, taking his hand at parting, said: “Bro. 
Scott, you will soon pass over Jordan.” “Do you 
think so?” said he. “Certainly,” was the reply; “it 
can not be otherwise.”’ He closed his eyes, and said, 
earnestly, “I'he will of the Lord be done.” 


212 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


He lay for a time calm and silent, but soon roused 
up as in an ecstasy, and burst forth in a rapturous 
strain. He spoke of the joys of the redeemed when 
they should be ushered into the presence of the patri- 
archs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and the myriad 
hosts washed in the blood of the Lamb; of the angelic 
bands, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; 
of the great white throne and Him that sat thereon. 
He seemed to those who heard him as if he stood 
near the open gate of the celestial city, and was de- 
scribing the glories which met his ravished sight; the 
dim and distant was now bright and near, and the 
worn and weary spirit longed to enter in. 


After this, he seemed to be exhausted and fell into 
a quiet slumber. On awaking, he said: “I have been 
greatly blessed; it has been my privilege to develop 
the kingdom of God. I have been greatly honored.” 
He then recounted the names of a number of the 
great and good men with whom he had _ labored, 
among them Thomas and Alexander Campbell, John 
T. Johnson, Barton W. Stone, and Elder John Smith, 
showing that the troubles of the present, which had 
laid as a burden on his soul, were forgotten, and that 
his mind was occupied with the great work of his life 
which the Master had given him to do, and which was 
nearly done. His disease progressed rapidly after 
this; by Sunday evening he was too low to speak, 
and on Tuesday evening, April 23d, he trustfully and 
peacefully fell asleep in Jesus, in the sixty-fifth year 
of his age. 

His children, who nearly all resided in Pittsburg, 
were not apprised of his illness until danger of its fatal 
termination was apprehended, and, though they lost 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 213 


not a moment after hearing the sad and altogether 
unexpected intelligence, they did not reach Mayslick 
until the early dawn of Wednesday morning, and 
were only aware that they were too late to close his 
eyes and receive his dying blessing, when they came 
in sight of the house and knew by many nameless 
tokens that death was there. 


All his children, with the exception of his son 
Samuel, were present at the funeral services, which 
were conducted with great feeling and impressive- 
ness by Elder John Rogers and Elder L. P. Streator. 
After which, in the village graveyard, his remains 
were laid to rest. Several notices of his death ap- 
peared in various journals, religious and secular, the 
most noteworthy of them in the “Millennial Har- 
binger,” from the pen of its venerable editor, Alex- 
ander Campbell, whose life-long acquaintance and co- 
operation qualified him to pay the following just and 
merited tribute to his memory: 


‘*T have not seen any published notice of the death of 
our much beloved and esteemed Elder Walter Scott. I have 
just now learned, by a letter of April 25th, from Bro. L. P. 
Streator, that he was seized, one week before he wrote to me, 
with a severe attack of typhoid pneumonia, at his own house, 
which in seven days terminated his pilgrimage on this earth. 
With the exception of his son Samuel, absent from home, he 
was followed to the grave by all his children. 


‘“No death in my horizon, out of my own family, came 
more unexpectedly or more ungratefully to my ears than this 
of our much beloved and highly appreciated brother Walter 
Scott, and none awoke more tender sympathies and regrets. 
Next to my father, he was my most cordial and indefatigable 
fellow-laborer in the origin and progress of the present Ref- 
ormation. We often took counsel together in our efforts to 
plead and advocate the paramount claims of original and 


214 LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 


apostolic Christianity. His whole heart was in the work. He 
was, indeed, truly eloquent, in the whole import of that word, 
in pleading the claims of the Author and Founder of the 
Christian faith and hope, and in disabusing the inquiring 
mind of all its prejudices, misapprehensions, and errors. He 
was, too, most successful in winning souls to the allegiance of 
the Divine Author and Founder of the Christian institution, 
and in putting to silence the cavilings and objections of the 
modern Pharisees and Sadducees of sectariandom. 


‘“He, indeed, possessed, upon the whole view of his char- 
acter, a happy temperament. It is true, though not a verb, 
he had his moods and tenses, as men of genius generally 
have. He was both logical and rhetorical in his conceptions 
and utterances. He could and he did simultaneously address 
and interest the understanding, the conscience, and the heart 
of his hearers, and in his happiest seasons constrain their 
attention and their acquiescence. 


‘‘He was, in his palmiest days, a powerful and a success- 
ful advocate of the claims of the Lord Messiah on the heart 
and life of every one who had recognized his person and 
mission, and especially upon those who had, in their baptism, 
vowed eternal allegiance to his adorable name. 


‘He, without partiality or enmity in his heart to any 
human being, manfully and magnanimously proclaimed the 
truth, the whole truth, so far as he understood it, regardless 
of human applause or of human condemnation. He had a 
strong faith in the person, and mission, and work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He had a rich hope of the life everlasting, and 
of the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. 


‘“T knew him well. I knew him long. I loved him much. 
We might not, indeed, agree in every opinion nor in every 
point of expediency; but we never loved each other less be- 
cause we did not acquiesce in every opinion and in every 
measure. By the eye of faith and the eye of hope, methinks 
I see him in Abraham’s, yO8OM, ey Bi aera Gh f 


In the light of his Baiened life te (santa it is na 
an extravagant eulogy to say that he was a man of 
eminent ability, and that he consecrated all his talents 


LIFE OF ELDER WALTER SCOTT 215 


to the service of his Lord and Master; that to his 
magnificent powers of mind were joined humility, 
benevolence, and piety; that his errors were few and 
his virtues many; that his life, labors, and example 
are a rich legacy to the church of God. His fame will 
continue to brighten as the years go by, and his 
memory will long be cherished for the service he did 
for God and humanity in calling attention to long neg- 
lected and almost forgotten truths. Many, very many 
will be the stars in his crown of rejoicing, and we 
can not doubt that at the final day his welcome will 
be: “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter 
into the joy of thy Lord.” 





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